Integrative transcriptogenomic analyses reveal the regulatory network underlying rice eating and cooking quality and identify a role for alpha-globulin in modulating starch and sucrose metabolism.

Rice eating and cooking quality (ECQ) is significantly influenced by the physicochemical properties of rice starch. This study integrates whole-genome resequencing, transcriptomic data, and phenotypic analysis to identify the genetic factors that regulate transcript expression levels and contribute to phenotypic variation in rice ECQ traits. A TWAS (transcriptome-wide association study) identified 285 transcripts linked to 6 ECQ traits.

A combination of upstream alleles involved in rice heading hastens natural long-day responses.

Background: The female parental line Jinbuol (JBO, early heading) and two recombinant isogenic lines, JSRIL1 and JSRIL2, have been shown to flower 44, 34 and 16 days earlier, respectively, than the male parental line Samgwang (SG, late heading) in paddy fields.

Objective: To explore how photoperiodicity-related genes are involved in differential heading among these lines.

Methods: Deep sequencing was conducted for these lines, photoperiodicity-related genes (71) were categorized, and qRT-PCR was performed for some key genes.

Cell Wall Invertases from Maternal Tissues Modulate Sucrose Flux in Apoplastic Pathways During Rice Anther and Seed Development.

Efficient sucrose transport and metabolism are vital for seed and pollen development in plants. Cell wall invertases (CINs) hydrolyze sucrose into glucose and fructose, maintaining a sucrose gradient in the apoplast of sink tissues. In rice, two CIN isoforms, OsCIN1 and OsCIN2, were identified as being specifically expressed in the anthers but not in pollen.

OsMYB14, an R2R3-MYB transcription factor, regulates plant height through the control of hormone metabolism in rice.

Plant growth must be regulated throughout the plant life cycle. The myeloblastosis (MYB) transcription factor (TF) family is one of the largest TF families and is involved in metabolism, lignin biosynthesis, and developmental processes. Here, we showed that OsMYB14, a rice R2R3-MYB TF, was expressed in leaves and roots, especially in rice culm and panicles, and that it localized to the nucleus.

An ATP-binding cassette transporter, OsABCB24, is involved in female gametophyte development and early seed growth in rice.

Female gametogenesis has been rarely studied due to gametophyte lethality and the unavailability of related genetic resources. In this study, we identified a rice ATP-binding cassette transporter, OsABCB24, whose null function displayed a significantly reduced seed setting rate by as much as 94%-100% compared with that of the wild type (WT). The reciprocal cross of WT and mutant plants demonstrated that the female reproductive organs in mutants were functionally impaired.

Dry-milled flour rice 'Seolgaeng' harbors a mutated fructose-6-phosphate 2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase2.

'Seolgaeng', an opaque-endosperm rice () mutant, is used to prepare high-quality dry-milled rice flour. The mutation causing its opaque-endosperm phenotype was unknown. Map-based cloning identified a missense mutation in the gene () in Seolgaeng.

CRISPR/Cas-mediated editing of cis-regulatory elements for crop improvement.

To improve future agricultural production, major technological advances are required to increase crop production and yield. Targeting the coding region of genes via the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated Protein (CRISPR/Cas) system has been well established and has enabled the rapid generation of transgene-free plants, which can lead to crop improvement. The emergence of the CRISPR/Cas system has also enabled scientists to achieve cis-regulatory element (CRE) editing and, consequently, engineering endogenous critical CREs to modulate the expression of target genes.

Rice β-glucosidase Os12BGlu38 is required for synthesis of intine cell wall and pollen fertility.

Glycoside hydrolase family1 β-glucosidases play a variety of roles in plants, but their in planta functions are largely unknown in rice (Oryza sativa). In this study, the biological function of Os12BGlu38, a rice β-glucosidase, expressed in bicellular to mature pollen, was examined. Genotype analysis of progeny of the self-fertilized heterozygous Os12BGlu38 T-DNA mutant, os12bglu38-1, found no homozygotes and a 1:1 ratio of wild type to heterozygotes.

Action of Multiple Rice β-Glucosidases on Abscisic Acid Glucose Ester.

Conjugation of phytohormones with glucose is a means of modulating their activities, which can be rapidly reversed by the action of β-glucosidases. Evaluation of previously characterized recombinant rice β-glucosidases found that nearly all could hydrolyze abscisic acid glucose ester (ABA-GE). Os4BGlu12 and Os4BGlu13, which are known to act on other phytohormones, had the highest activity.

Loss of Function of Rice Plastidic Glycolate/Glycerate Translocator 1 Impairs Photorespiration and Plant Growth.

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, the key enzyme of photosynthetic carbon fixation, is able to accept both O and CO as substrates. When it fixes O, it produces 2-phosphoglycolate, which is detoxified by photorespiration and recycled to the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. To complete photorespiration, metabolite transport across three organelles, chloroplasts, peroxisomes, and mitochondria, is necessary through transmembrane transporters.