FLOURY ENDOSPERM11 encoding a plastid heat shock protein 70 is essential for amyloplast development in rice.

Mutations of stromal Hsp70 cause chloroplast developmental abnormalities and knockout mutants of stromal Hsp70 usually exhibit protein import deficiencies. However, their effects have not been studied in amyloplast development. Here, we identified an amyloplast abnormal development mutant, floury endosperm11 (flo11) that exhibited an opaque phenotype in the inner core and the periphery of grains. Semi-thin section revealed defective amyloplast development in the flo11 endosperm. Map-based cloning and subsequent complementation test demonstrated that FLO11 encoded a plastid-localized heat shock protein 70 (OsHsp70cp-2). OsHsp70cp-2 was abundantly expressed in developing endosperm, whereas its paralogous gene OsHsp70cp-1 was mainly expressed in photosynthetic tissues. Ectopic expression of OsHsp70cp-1 under the control of OsHsp70cp-2 promoter rescued the mutant phenotype of flo11. Moreover, simultaneous knockdown of both OsHsp70cp genes resulted in white stripe leaves and opaque endosperm. BiFC and Co-IP assays revealed that OsHsp70cp-2 was associated with Tic complex. Taken together, OsHsp70cp-2 may regulate protein import into amyloplasts, which is essential for amyloplast development in rice.