OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate starvation responses in rice

Pandey, Bipin K.; Verma, Lokesh; Prusty, Ankita; Singh, Ajit Pal; Bennett, Malcolm J.; Tyagi, Akhilesh K.; Giri, Jitender; Mehra, Poonam

Abstract

Main conclusion: OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate homeostasis by suppressing jasmonic acid signaling and biosynthesis in rice roots. Abstract: Jasmonic Acid (JA) is a key plant signaling molecule which negatively regulates growth processes including root elongation. JAZ (JASMONATE ZIM-DOMAIN) proteins function as transcriptional repressors of JA signaling. Therefore, targeting JA signaling by deploying JAZ repressors may enhance root length in crops. In this study, we overexpressed JAZ repressor OsJAZ11 in rice to alleviate the root growth inhibitory action of JA. OsJAZ11 is a low phosphate (Pi) responsive gene which is transcriptionally regulated by OsPHR2. We report that OsJAZ11 overexpression promoted primary and seminal root elongation which enhanced Pi foraging. Expression studies revealed that overexpression of OsJAZ11 also reduced Pi starvation response (PSR) under Pi limiting conditions. Moreover, OsJAZ11 overexpression also suppressed JA signaling and biosynthesis as compared to wild type (WT). We further demonstrated that the C-terminal region of OsJAZ11 was crucial for stimulating root elongation in overexpression lines. Rice transgenics overexpressing truncated OsJAZ11ΔC transgene (i.e., missing C-terminal region) exhibited reduced root length and Pi uptake. Interestingly, OsJAZ11 also regulates Pi homeostasis via physical interaction with a key Pi sensing protein, OsSPX1. Our study highlights the functional connections between JA and Pi signaling and reveals JAZ repressors as a promising candidate for improving low Pi tolerance of elite rice genotypes.

Citation

Pandey, B. K., Verma, L., Prusty, A., Singh, A. P., Bennett, M. J., Tyagi, A. K., …Mehra, P. (2021). OsJAZ11 regulates phosphate starvation responses in rice. Planta, 254(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03657-6

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 6, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 18, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 21, 2021
• Journal: Planta
• Print ISSN: 0032-0935
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-2048
• Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 254
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 8
• Pages: 1-16
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-021-03657-6
• Keywords: Plant Science; Genetics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5717763
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00425-021-03657-6