Molecular cloning and characterization of OsCHR4, a rice chromatin-remodeling factor required for early chloroplast development in adaxial mesophyll.

Mi-2 protein, the central component of the NuRD nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylase complex, plays a role in transcriptional repression in animals. Mi-2-like genes have been reported in Arabidopsis, though their function in monocots remains largely unknown. In the present study, a rice Mi-2-like gene, OsCHR4 (Oryza sativa Chromatin Remodeling 4, LOC_Os07g03450), was cloned from a rice mutant with adaxial albino leaves. The Oschr4 mutant exhibited defective chloroplasts in adaxial mesophyll, but not in abaxial mesophyll. Ultrastructural observations indicated that proplastid growth and/or thylakoid membrane formation in adaxial mesophyll cells was blocked in the Oschr4 mutant. Subcellular localization revealed that OsCHR4::GFP fusion protein was targeted to the nuclei. OsCHR4 was mainly expressed in the root meristem, flower, vascular bundle, and mesophyll cells by promoter::GUS analysis in transgenic rice. The transcripts of some nuclear- and plastid-encoded genes required for early chloroplast development and photosynthesis were decreased in the adaxial albino mesophyll of the Oschr4 mutant. These observations provide evidence that OsCHR4, the rice Mi-2-like protein, plays an important role in early chloroplast development in adaxial mesophyll cells. The results increase our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying tissue-specific chloroplast development in plants.