2. Academic Validation
  3. Temperature-sensitive male sterility in rice determined by the roles of AGO1d in reproductive phasiRNA biogenesis and function

Temperature-sensitive male sterility in rice determined by the roles of AGO1d in reproductive phasiRNA biogenesis and function

  • New Phytol. 2022 Aug 28. doi: 10.1111/nph.18446.
Chuanlin Shi 1,  Jie Zhang 2,  Bingjin Wu 1,  Rachel Jouni 3 4,  Changxiu Yu 1,  Blake C Meyers 4 5,  Wanqi Liang 2,  Qili Fei 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, 518120, China.
  • 2 Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Adelaide Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
  • 3 Plant and Microbial Biosciences Program, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University, Saint Louis, MI, 63130, USA.
  • 4 Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis, MI, 63132, USA.
  • 5 Division of Plant Sciences and Technology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MI, 65211, USA.
PMID: 36031742 DOI: 10.1111/nph.18446
Abstract

Phased secondary siRNAs (phasiRNAs) are broadly present in the reproductive tissues of flowering Plants, with spatial-temporal specificity. However, the ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins associated with phasiRNAs and their miRNA triggers remain elusive. Here, through histological and high-throughput Sequencing analyses, we show that rice AGO1d, which is specifically expressed in anther wall cells before and during meiosis, associates with both miR2118 and miR2275 to mediate phasiRNA biogenesis. AGO1d preferentially binds to miR2118-triggered 21-nucleotide (nt) phasiRNAs with a 5'-terminal uridine, suggesting a dual role in phasiRNA biogenesis and function. Depletion of AGO1d causes a reduction of 21- and 24-nt phasiRNAs and temperature-sensitive male sterility. At lower temperatures, anthers of the ago1d mutant predominantly show excessive tapetal cells with little starch accumulation during pollen formation, possibly caused by the dysregulation of cell metabolism. These results uncover an essential role of AGO1d in rice anther development at lower temperatures and demonstrate coordinative roles of AGO proteins during reproductive phasiRNA biogenesis and function.

Keywords

Argonaute; anther; microRNA; phasiRNA; rice.

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