Namchun Bae

· In order to understand the molecular genetic mechanisms of rice (Oryza sativa) organ development, we studied the narrow leaf2 narrow leaf3 (nal2 nal3; hereafter nal2/3) double mutant, which produces narrow-curly leaves, more tillers, fewer lateral roots, opened spikelets and narrow-thin grains. · We found that narrow-curly leaves resulted mainly from reduced lateral-axis outgrowth with fewer longitudinal veins and more, larger bulliform cells. Opened spikelets, possibly caused by marginal defo

NADPH:protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (POR) catalyzes photoreduction of protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) to chlorophyllide in chlorophyll (Chl) synthesis, and is required for prolamellar body (PLB) formation in etioplasts. Rice faded green leaf (fgl) mutants develop yellow/white leaf variegation and necrotic lesions during leaf elongation in field-grown plants. Map-based cloning revealed that FGL encodes OsPORB, one of two rice POR isoforms. In fgl, etiolated seedlings contained smaller PLBs in

During crop cultivation, water-deficit conditions retard growth, thus reducing crop productivity. Therefore, uncovering the mechanisms behind drought tolerance is a critical task for crop improvement. Here, we show that the rice (Oryza sativa) WRKY transcription factor OsWRKY5 negatively regulates drought tolerance. We determined that OsWRKY5 was mainly expressed in developing leaves at the seedling and heading stages, and that its expression was reduced by drought stress and by treatment with N

NAM/ATAF1/ATAF2/CUC2 (NAC) is a plant-specific transcription factor (TF) family, and NACs participate in many diverse processes during the plant life cycle. Several Arabidopsis thaliana NACs have important roles in positively or negatively regulating leaf senescence, but in other plant species, including rice, the senescence-associated NACs (senNACs) remain largely unknown. Here we show that the rice senNAC TF ONAC106 negatively regulates leaf senescence. Leaves of onac106-1D (insertion of the 3

The highly ordered process of senescence forms the final stage of leaf development; a large set of senescence-associated genes (SAGs) execute this orderly dismantling of the photosynthetic apparatus and remobilization of cellular components. A number of transcription factors (TFs) modulate SAG expression to promote or delay senescence. Here we show that NAC016, the previously uncharacterized senescence-associated NAM/ATAF1/2/CUC2 (senNAC) TF in Arabidopsis thaliana, promotes senescence. Leaves o

Jasmonic acid (JA) functions in plant development, including senescence and immunity. Arabidopsis thaliana CORONATINE INSENSITIVE 1 encodes a JA receptor and functions in the JA-responsive signaling pathway. The Arabidopsis genome harbors a single COI gene, but the rice (Oryza sativa) genome harbors three COI homologs, OsCOI1a, OsCOI1b, and OsCOI2. Thus, it remains unclear whether each OsCOI has distinct, additive, synergistic, or redundant functions in development. Here, we use the oscoi1b-1 kn

), with seven nucleotides inserted between intron 5 and exon 6, truncating ONAC054α protein at a premature stop codon. ONAC054β lacks the TMD and thus localizes to the nucleus. These findings demonstrate that the activity of ONAC054, which is important for ABA-induced leaf senescence in rice, is precisely controlled by multilayered regulatory processes.

Arabidopsis EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) functions in modulating light input to the circadian clock, as a component of ELF3-ELF4-LUX ARRHYTHMO (LUX) evening complex. However, the role of ELF3 in stress responses remains largely unknown. In this study, we show that ELF3 enhances plants' resilience to salt stress: ELF3-overexpressing (ELF3-OX) plants are salt-tolerant, while elf3 mutants are more sensitive to salt stress. The expressions of many salt stress- and senescence-associated genes are altered

Degradation of chlorophyll (Chl) by Chl catabolic enzymes (CCEs) causes the loss of green color that typically occurs during senescence of leaves. In addition to CCEs, staygreen1 (SGR1) functions as a key regulator of Chl degradation. Although sgr1 mutants in many plant species exhibit a stay-green phenotype, the biochemical function of the SGR1 protein remains elusive. Many recent studies have examined the physiological and molecular roles of SGR1 and its homologs (SGR2 and SGR-LIKE) in Chl met

The plant-specific WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) nuclear proteins have important roles in the transcriptional regulation of many developmental processes. Among the rice (Oryza sativa) WOX proteins, a loss of OsWOX3A function in narrow leaf2 (nal2) nal3 double mutants (termed nal2/3) causes pleiotropic effects, such as narrow and curly leaves, opened spikelets, narrow grains, more tillers, and fewer lateral roots, but almost normal plant height. To examine OsWOX3A function in more detail, transg

In Arabidopsis thaliana, CONSTANS (CO) plays an essential role in the regulation of photoperiodic flowering under long-day conditions. CO protein is stable only in the afternoon of long days, when it induces the expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), which promotes flowering. The blue-light photoreceptor FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX1 (FKF1) interacts with CO and stabilizes it by an unknown mechanism. Here, we provide genetic and biochemical evidence that FKF1 inhibits CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMOR

MYB-type transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in plant growth and development, and in the responses to several abiotic stresses. In rice (Oryza sativa), the roles of MYB-related TFs in leaf senescence are not well documented. Here, we examined rice MYB TF gene OsMYB102 and found that an OsMYB102 T-DNA activation-tagged line (termed osmyb102-D), which constitutively expresses OsMYB102 under the control of four tandem repeats of the 35S promoter, and OsMYB102-overexpressing transgenic