Lubba Kayyis Muayadah, Yamamori Koichi, Kishima Yuji
Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan.
Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, 710-0046, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 2;15(1):32293. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-15488-6.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) originated in tropical regions but has successfully adapted to higher latitudes, largely through modifications in photoperiod sensitivity and cold tolerance mechanisms. Lipid metabolism, particularly involving membrane-associated enzymes, plays a key role in environmental sensing and response. The GDSL esterase/lipase (GELP) gene family, known for its lipid-related enzymatic activity, has been associated with various abiotic stress responses. In this study, we investigated the potential role of OsGELP genes in rice adaptation to high-latitude environments using publicly available genomic and geolocation data from 3,000 rice accessions. We identified haplotypes for all 115 OsGELP genes and classified them based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and the mean latitude of occurrence. Haplotypes with average latitudinal distribution above 35°N were defined as high-latitude haplotypes (HLHs). We selected 10 OsGELP genes containing 11 HLHs for further analysis. Haplotype network and amino acid sequence analyses revealed that a limited number of non-synonymous mutations in HLHs may have conferred adaptive advantages to high-latitude environments. Notably, these HLH-associated OsGELP genes are predominantly expressed in roots, suggesting a root-mediated mechanism of environmental adaptation. Interestingly, only 3 of 14 known cold tolerance genes in rice exhibited HLHs, highlighting the distinct role of OsGELP genes in latitude adaptation. Our findings suggest that these 10 OsGELP genes with HLHs may represent previously unrecognized genetic components contributing to high-latitude adaptation in rice.
水稻（Oryza sativa L.）起源于热带地区，但已成功适应了更高的纬度，这主要是通过光周期敏感性和耐寒机制的改变实现的。脂质代谢，特别是涉及膜相关酶的代谢，在环境感知和响应中起关键作用。以脂质相关酶活性而闻名的GDSL酯酶/脂肪酶（GELP）基因家族，已与各种非生物胁迫响应相关联。在本研究中，我们利用来自3000份水稻种质的公开可用基因组和地理位置数据，研究了OsGELP基因在水稻适应高纬度环境中的潜在作用。我们确定了所有115个OsGELP基因的单倍型，并根据单核苷酸多态性（SNP）和出现的平均纬度对它们进行了分类。平均纬度分布在北纬35°以上的单倍型被定义为高纬度单倍型（HLH）。我们选择了包含11个HLH的10个OsGELP基因进行进一步分析。单倍型网络和氨基酸序列分析表明，HLH中有限数量的非同义突变可能赋予了对高纬度环境的适应性优势。值得注意的是，这些与HLH相关的OsGELP基因主要在根中表达，这表明存在一种由根介导的环境适应机制。有趣的是，水稻中14个已知的耐寒基因中只有3个表现出HLH，这突出了OsGELP基因在纬度适应中的独特作用。我们的研究结果表明，这10个具有HLH的OsGELP基因可能代表了以前未被认识的有助于水稻高纬度适应的遗传成分。
