Abstract
RNA-binding proteins(RBPs)are components of the post-transcriptional regulatory system,but their reg-ulatory effects on complex traits remain unknown.Using an integrated strategy involving map-based cloning,functional characterizations,and tran-scriptomic and population genomic analyses,we re-vealed that RBP-K(LOC_Os08g23120),RBP-A(LO-C_Os11g41890),and RBP-J(LOC_Os10g33230)encode proteins that form an RBP-A-J-K complex that negatively regulates rice yield-related traits.Ex-aminations of the RBP-A-J-K complex indicated RBP-K functions as a relatively non-specific RBP chaperone that enables RBP-A and RBP-J to func-tion normally.Additionally,RBP-J most likely affects GA pathways,resulting in considerable increases in grain and panicle lengths,but decreases in grain width and thickness.In contrast,RBP-A negatively regulates the expression of genes most likely in-volved in auxin-regulated pathways controlling cell wall elongation and carbohydrate transport,with substantial effects on the rice grain filling process as well as grain length and weight.Evolutionarily,RBP-K is relatively ancient and highly conserved,whereas RBP-J and RBP-A are more diverse.Thus,the RBP-A-J-K complex may represent a typical functional model for many RBPs and protein complexes that function at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in plants and animals for increased functional consistency,efficiency,and versatility,as well as in-creased evolutionary potential.Our results clearly demonstrate the importance of RBP-mediated post-transcriptional regulation for the diversity of complex traits.Furthermore,rice grain yield and quality may be enhanced by introducing various complete or partial loss-of-function mutations to specific RBP genes using clustered regularly interspaced palin-dromic repeats(CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 technology and by exploiting desirable natural tri-genic allelic combinations at the loci encoding the components of the RBP-A-J-K complex through marker-assisted selection.
基金项目
Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission(2023ZKZD05)
National Natural Science Foundation of China(32172043)
National Natural Science Foundation of China(31971918)
National Natural Science Foundation of China(32170356)
Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan Project(22N11900200)
Innovation Program of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences()
National Key Research and Development Program of China(2021YFA1300401)
维普
万方数据