State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, the Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China.
Nat Commun. 2020 Oct 28;11(1):5441. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19320-9.
With global warming and climate change, breeding crop plants tolerant to high-temperature stress is of immense significance. tRNA 2-thiolation is a highly conserved form of tRNA modification among living organisms. Here, we report the identification of SLG1 (Slender Guy 1), which encodes the cytosolic tRNA 2-thiolation protein 2 (RCTU2) in rice. SLG1 plays a key role in the response of rice plants to high-temperature stress at both seedling and reproductive stages. Dysfunction of SLG1 results in plants with thermosensitive phenotype, while overexpression of SLG1 enhances the tolerance of plants to high temperature. SLG1 is differentiated between the two Asian cultivated rice subspecies, indica and japonica, and the variations at both promoter and coding regions lead to an increased level of thiolated tRNA and enhanced thermotolerance of indica rice varieties. Our results demonstrate that the allelic differentiation of SLG1 confers indica rice to high-temperature tolerance, and tRNA thiolation pathway might be a potential target in the next generation rice breeding for the warming globe.
随着全球变暖和气候变化，培育能够耐受高温胁迫的作物品种具有重要意义。tRNA 2-巯基化是生物体内高度保守的 tRNA 修饰形式。在这里，我们报告了 SLG1（细长的家伙 1）的鉴定，它在水稻中编码细胞质 tRNA 2-巯基化蛋白 2（RCTU2）。SLG1 在水稻幼苗期和生殖期对高温胁迫的反应中起着关键作用。SLG1 功能失调会导致植物表现出热敏表型，而过表达 SLG1 则增强了植物对高温的耐受性。SLG1 在两个亚洲栽培稻亚种籼稻和粳稻中存在差异，启动子和编码区的变异导致硫代 tRNA 水平升高，并增强了籼稻品种的耐热性。我们的研究结果表明，SLG1 的等位基因分化赋予了籼稻对高温的耐受性，而 tRNA 硫代修饰途径可能是未来为应对全球变暖而进行的水稻下一代育种的潜在目标。
