OsCOMT, encoding a caffeic acid O-methyltransferase in melatonin biosynthesis, increases rice grain yield through dual regulation of leaf senescence and vascular development

© 2022 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd..

Melatonin, a natural phytohormone in plants, plays multiple critical roles in plant growth and stress responses. Although melatonin biosynthesis-related genes have been suggested to possess diverse biological functions, their roles and functional mechanisms in regulating rice grain yield remain largely unexplored. Here, we uncovered the roles of a caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (OsCOMT) gene in mediating rice grain yield through dual regulation of leaf senescence and vascular development. In vitro and in vivo evidence revealed that OsCOMT is involved in melatonin biosynthesis. Transgenic assays suggested that OsCOMT significantly delays leaf senescence at the grain filling stage by inhibiting degradation of chlorophyll and chloroplast, which, in turn, improves photosynthesis efficiency. In addition, the number and size of vascular bundles in the culms and leaves were significantly increased in the OsCOMT-overexpressing plants, while decreased in the knockout plants, suggesting that OsCOMT plays a positive role in vascular development of rice. Further evidence indicated that OsCOMT-mediated vascular development might owe to the crosstalk between melatonin and cytokinin. More importantly, we found that OsCOMT is a positive regulator of grain yield, and overexpression of OsCOMT increase grain yield per plant even in a high-yield variety background, suggesting that OsCOMT can be used as an important target for enhancing rice yield. Our findings shed novel insights into melatonin-mediated leaf senescence and vascular development and provide a possible strategy for genetic improvement of rice grain yield.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:20

Enthalten in:

Plant biotechnology journal - 20(2022), 6 vom: 20. Juni, Seite 1122-1139

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Huangfu, Liexiang [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Rujia [VerfasserIn]
Lu, Yue [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Enying [VerfasserIn]
Miao, Jun [VerfasserIn]
Zuo, Zhihao [VerfasserIn]
Zhao, Yu [VerfasserIn]
Zhu, Minyan [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Zihui [VerfasserIn]
Li, Pengcheng [VerfasserIn]
Xu, Yang [VerfasserIn]
Yao, Youli [VerfasserIn]
Liang, Guohua [VerfasserIn]
Xu, Chenwu [VerfasserIn]
Zhou, Yong [VerfasserIn]
Yang, Zefeng [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Caffeate O-methyltransferase
Caffeic acid O-methyltransferase
Crop yield
EC 2.1.1.-
EC 2.1.1.68
JL5DK93RCL
Journal Article
Leaf senescence
Melatonin
Methyltransferases
Plant Proteins
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Rice
Vascular development

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 26.05.2022

Date Revised 16.07.2022

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1111/pbi.13794

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM337208123