Dong Jinlei, Wang Zimeng, Si Weina, Xu Huan, Zhang Zhen, Cao Qiuyu, Zhang Xinyuan, Peng Hui, Mao Rongwei, Jiang Haiyang, Cheng Beijiu, Li Xiaoyu, Gu Longjiang
National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Stress Resistance breeding, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
Schools of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China.
Plant J. 2024 Dec;120(6):2700-2722. doi: 10.1111/tpj.17139. Epub 2024 Nov 18.
The drought-induced protein 19 (Di19) gene family encodes a Cys2/His2 zinc-finger protein implicated in responses to diverse plant stressors. To date, potential roles of these proteins as transcription factors remain largely elusive in maize. Here, we show that ZmDi19-7 gene exerts pivotal functions in regulation of plant height and organ growth by modulating the cell size in maize. ZmDi19-7 physically interacts with ubiquitin receptor protein ZmDAR1b, which is indispensable in ubiquitination of ZmDi19-7 and affects its protein stability. Further genetic analysis demonstrated that ZmDAR1b act in a common pathway with ZmDi19-7 to regulate cell size in maize. ZmDi19-7, severing as a transcriptional factor, is significantly enriched in conserved DiBS element in the promoter region of ZmHSP22, ZmHSP18c, ZmSAUR25, ZmSAUR55, ZmSAUR7 and ZmXTH23 and orchestrates the expression of these genes involving in auxin-mediated cell expansion and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. Thus, our findings demonstrate that ZmDi19-7 is an important newfound component of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway in regulation of plant height and organ size in maize. These discoveries highlight potential targets for the genetic improvement of maize in the future.
干旱诱导蛋白19（Di19）基因家族编码一种Cys2/His2锌指蛋白，该蛋白参与植物对多种胁迫因子的响应。迄今为止，这些蛋白作为转录因子在玉米中的潜在作用仍 largely elusive。在此，我们表明ZmDi19-7基因通过调节玉米细胞大小在植株高度和器官生长调控中发挥关键作用。ZmDi19-7与泛素受体蛋白ZmDAR1b发生物理相互作用，ZmDAR1b在ZmDi19-7的泛素化过程中不可或缺，并影响其蛋白稳定性。进一步的遗传分析表明，ZmDAR1b与ZmDi19-7在调控玉米细胞大小的共同途径中发挥作用。作为转录因子的ZmDi19-7在ZmHSP22、ZmHSP18c、ZmSAUR25、ZmSAUR55、ZmSAUR7和ZmXTH23启动子区域的保守DiBS元件中显著富集，并协调这些参与生长素介导的细胞扩张和内质网中蛋白质加工的基因的表达。因此，我们的研究结果表明，ZmDi19-7是玉米中调控植株高度和器官大小的泛素-蛋白酶体途径中新发现的重要组成部分。这些发现突出了未来玉米遗传改良的潜在靶点。
