Project description:Cellularization is a key event during the development of the endosperm. Our understanding of the developmental regulation of cellularization has been limited for plants other than Arabidopsis. We found that the activation of OsbZIP76 coincided with the initiation of cellularization of rice. Either knockdown or knockout of OsbZIP76 led to precocious cellularization. Many genes involved in endosperm development or starch biosynthesis were prematurely activated in the caryopsis at two days after fertilization. The results implied that OsbZIP76 is involved in the regulation of cellularization in rice. As a putative transcription factor, OsbZIP76 alone lacked transcriptional activation activity. However, it was able to interact with OsNF-YB9 and OsNF-YB1, two nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) family transcription factors, both in yeast and in planta. OsbZIP76 and OsNF-YB9 showed similar endosperm-preferential expression patterns and the transiently expressed proteins were colocalized in the epidermal cells of tobacco. As with osnf-yb1 mutants, the osbzip76 mutants showed reduced seed size and reduced apparent amylose content of the seeds. We also confirmed that OsbZIP76 is an imprinted gene in rice, the expression of which depended on the genetic background. Our results suggested that OsbZIP76 is an endosperm-expressed imprinted gene to regulate development of the endosperm in rice.
Project description:Purpose: The goal of our study is to compare two different ecotypes of Oryza sativa L., PHS-susceptible rice trait and PHS-resistant rice trait under three different maturation stages and two different tissues, embryo and endosperm of rice seeds with profile of RNA-seq. Methods: Oryza sativa. L mRNA profiles of two different ecotypes with 3 different maturation stages and 2 different tissues were generated by NGS, in duplicate, following Illumina NGS workflow. qRT–PCR validation was performed using SYBR Green assays. Results: We found the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between PHS-susceptible rice trait and PHS-resistant rice trait according to the three different seed maturation stages. In DEGs, gene ontology (GO) analysis and Mapman analysis were performed, and we discovered genes related to plant hormones and heat stress, which are not yet reported. These genes were validated through qRT-PCR, and it is likely to be highly related to seed dormancy. Conclusions: Our study represents the analysis of rice seed transcriptomes under two different ecotypes, three different seed maturation stages and two different tissues (Embryo and endosperm). Our results show that seed dormancy is affected and regulated by a plant hormones and heat stress. This study might provide a foundation for understanding dynamics of seed dormancy during the seed development and overcoming pre-harvest sprouting.
Project description:Purpose: The goal of our study is to compare two different ecotypes of Oryza sativa L., PHS-susceptible rice trait and PHS-resistant rice trait under three different maturation stages in rice seed embryo with profile of miRNA-seq. Methods: Oryza sativa. L miRNA profiles of two different ecotypes with 3 different maturation stages of rice seed embryo were generated by NGS, in duplicate, following Illumina NGS workflow. Results: We found the differentially expressed microRNAs between PHS-susceptible rice trait and PHS-resistant rice trait according to the three different seed maturation stages. Target transcripts of differentially expressed microRNAs have been predicted via psRNATarget web server, and a part of those target genes are likely to be regulated by microRNAs, affecting overall responses to heat stress and the regulation of seed dormancy during maturation. Conclusions: Our study represents the analysis of rice seed small RNAs, specifically microRNAs, under two different ecotypes, three different seed maturation stages in rice seed embryo. Our results show that microRNAs are involved in response to heat stress and the regulation of seed dormancy. This study will provide a foundation for understanding dynamics of seed dormancy during the seed development and overcoming pre-harvest sprouting.
Project description:We report the application of methylacytosine immunoprecipetation combined with Illumina sequencing (MeDIP-seq) for high-throughput profiling of DNA methylation in rice embryo 3, 6, 9 DAP and endosperm 2, 3, 6, 9 DAP. A total number of 12-14 million of 2×49 bp paired-end reads was generated for each sample, and BOWTIE2 was used for read mapping. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of rice embryo and endosperm. This study provides a framework to systemically characterize the effect of DNA methylation in developing seeds and will help to illustrate the epigenetic regulation of rice seed development. Rice embryo and endosperm were selected for DNA extraction and methylacytosine immunoprecipetation combined with Illumina sequencing. We sought to obtain the genome-wide DNA methylation profilings of embryo at 3,6,9 days after pollination(DAP) and endosperm at 2,3,6,9 DAP. To that end, we hand-selected embryo at 3,6,9 DAP and endosperm at 2,3,6,9 DAP according to morphological criteria.