The rice pentatricopeptide repeat protein RF5 restores fertility in Hong-Lian cytoplasmic male-sterile lines via a complex with the glycine-rich protein GRP162.

The cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) phenotype in plants can be reversed by the action of nuclear-encoded fertility restorer (Rf) genes. The molecular mechanism involved in Rf gene-mediated processing of CMS-associated transcripts is unclear, as are the identities of other proteins that may be involved in the CMS-Rf interaction. In this study, we cloned the restorer gene Rf5 for Hong-Lian CMS in rice and studied its fertility restoration mechanism with respect to the processing of the CMS-associated transcript atp6-orfH79. RF5, a pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein, was unable to bind to this CMS-associated transcript; however, a partner protein of RF5 (GRP162, a Gly-rich protein encoding 162 amino acids) was identified to bind to atp6-orfH79. GRP162 was found to physically interact with RF5 and to bind to atp6-orfH79 via an RNA recognition motif. Furthermore, we found that RF5 and GRP162 are both components of a restoration of fertility complex (RFC) that is 400 to 500 kD in size and can cleave CMS-associated transcripts in vitro. Evidence that a PPR protein interacts directly with a Gly-rich protein to form a subunit of the RFC provides a new perspective on the molecular mechanisms underlying fertility restoration.