Chen Kai, Du Kangxi, Shi Yichen, Yin Liufan, Shen Wen-Hui, Yu Yu, Liu Bing, Dong Aiwu
State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, International Associated Laboratory of CNRS-Fudan-HUNAU on Plant Epigenome Research, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, UPR2357 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, 12 rue du Général Zimmer, Strasbourg Cédex, 67084, France.
New Phytol. 2021 Jun;230(5):1967-1984. doi: 10.1111/nph.17290. Epub 2021 Mar 25.
Chromatin modifications play important roles in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses, but the precise function of histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36) methylation in drought tolerance remains poorly evaluated. Here, we report that SDG708, a specific H3K36 methyltransferase, functions as a positive regulator of drought tolerance in rice. SDG708 promoted abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis by directly targeting and activating the crucial ABA biosynthesis genes NINE-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE 3 (OsNCED3) and NINE-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE 5 (OsNCED5). Additionally, SDG708 induced hydrogen peroxide accumulation in the guard cells and promoted stomatal closure to reduce water loss. Overexpression of SDG708 concomitantly enhanced rice drought tolerance and increased grain yield under normal and drought stress conditions. Thus, SDG708 is potentially useful as an epigenetic regulator in breeding for grain yield improvement.
染色质修饰在植物适应非生物胁迫中发挥重要作用，但组蛋白H3赖氨酸36（H3K36）甲基化在耐旱性方面的确切功能仍未得到充分评估。在此，我们报道，特异性H3K36甲基转移酶SDG708在水稻耐旱性中作为正向调节因子发挥作用。SDG708通过直接靶向并激活关键的脱落酸（ABA）生物合成基因9-顺式-环氧类胡萝卜素双加氧酶3（OsNCED3）和9-顺式-环氧类胡萝卜素双加氧酶5（OsNCED5）来促进ABA生物合成。此外，SDG708诱导保卫细胞中过氧化氢积累并促进气孔关闭以减少水分流失。在正常和干旱胁迫条件下，SDG708的过表达同时增强了水稻的耐旱性并提高了谷物产量。因此，SDG708作为一种表观遗传调控因子在提高谷物产量的育种中具有潜在用途。
