Hu Rui, Liang Kaiming, Hu Xiangyu, Li Meijuan, Ye Qunhuan, Yin Yuanhong, Tang Cai, Wang Xinyu, Fu Youqiang, Pan Junfeng, Zhang Mingyong, Zhong Xuhua
Rice Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding of High Quality Rice in Southern China (Co-Construction by Ministry and Province), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/Guangdong Key Laboratory of Rice Science and Technology/Guangdong Rice Engineering Laboratory, Guangzhou 510640, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
Plants (Basel). 2025 Jun 30;14(13):1999. doi: 10.3390/plants14131999.
Seed development plays a critical role in determining both crop yield and grain quality in rice. As a key nutrient storage organ, the rice endosperm development not only contributes to grain filling but also plays an essential role during the early stages of seed germination. Amino acid metabolism is active during the process of seed development and seed germination. Asparagine is a primary amino acid responsible for long-distance organic nitrogen transport in plants. Asparagine synthetase catalyzes the synthesis of asparagine from aspartate and glutamine. In this study, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout mutants of the gene of rice were generated. Homozygous mutants exhibited complete failure of seed germination, and heterozygotes could not produce homozygous offspring. Endosperm development of homozygous mutant seeds showed severe defects. Additionally, interacting protein screening combined with pull-down and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assays confirmed that OsASN2 physically interacted with pyruvate phosphate dikinase OsPPDKB, the mutants of which showed impaired endosperm development. These findings collectively indicate that plays a critical role in seed development and germination in rice.
种子发育在决定水稻产量和稻米品质方面起着关键作用。作为关键的营养储存器官，水稻胚乳发育不仅有助于籽粒充实，而且在种子萌发早期也起着至关重要的作用。氨基酸代谢在种子发育和种子萌发过程中活跃。天冬酰胺是植物中负责长距离有机氮运输的主要氨基酸。天冬酰胺合成酶催化从天冬氨酸和谷氨酰胺合成天冬酰胺。在本研究中，生成了水稻该基因的CRISPR/Cas9介导的敲除突变体。纯合突变体表现出种子萌发完全失败，杂合子不能产生纯合后代。纯合突变体种子的胚乳发育显示出严重缺陷。此外，通过下拉和免疫共沉淀（Co-IP）分析相结合的相互作用蛋白筛选证实，OsASN2与丙酮酸磷酸二激酶OsPPDKB发生物理相互作用，其突变体表现出胚乳发育受损。这些发现共同表明， 在水稻种子发育和萌发中起关键作用。
