Switching off one rice gene helps plants thrive on less phosphorus
Gao YQ, Zhong CW, Zhou Y, Li JQ, Huang J
Crop Improvement
Phosphorus fertilizer comes from finite mined rock and runs off into streams and ponds, so plants that stretch the phosphorus already in the soil could mean less of it washing into the waterways near your home.
Plants store some of their phosphorus, a nutrient they need to grow, locked inside their root walls. Rice missing a gene called OsPLT1 unlocks more of that stored phosphorus and pulls more in from the soil, so it grows better when the nutrient is scarce. Rice with extra copies of the gene struggles more in low-phosphorus conditions.
Key Findings
osplt1 mutant rice accumulated more biomass and higher soluble and total phosphorus than normal Nipponbare rice under phosphorus deficiency, while OsPLT1-overexpressing lines were hypersensitive to deficiency.
Mutant roots retained less phosphorus in cell walls, especially in the water-soluble pectin fraction, with higher pectin uronic acid content and pectin methylesterase activity, and enzymatic digestion released more wall-bound phosphorus.
Mutants accumulated more nitric oxide under deficiency and induced the phosphate transporter gene OsPT6 more strongly, while OsPHR1/2 and PHR-responsive genes were expressed comparably across genotypes; sodium nitroprusside treatment largely erased the wall and soluble phosphorus differences.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Rice plants lacking a gene called OsPLT1 grow better when phosphorus, a key fertilizer nutrient, is scarce. The plants free up phosphorus trapped in their root walls and take up more from the soil, which could help breed rice that needs less fertilizer.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
OsPLT1 negatively regulates phosphorus deficiency tolerance by modulating nitric oxide-mediated cell wall phosphorus reutilization in rice.
Phosphorus (P) deficiency severely limits rice productivity, yet the role of root developmental regulators in P homeostasis remains unclear. Here, we show that the rice PLETHORA transcription facto...
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