High-temperature adaptation of an OsNRT2.3 allele is thermoregulated by small RNAs

29 de noviembre de 2022

Les invitamos a leer el artículo: "High-temperature adaptation of an OsNRT2.3 allele is thermoregulated by small RNAs" en colaboración con el Dr. Luis Herrera Estrella, Profesor Investigador Emérito de Cinvestav UGA-Langebio.

Autores: Yong Zhang, Hisae Tateishi-Karimata, Tamaki Endoh, Qiongli Jin, Kexin Li, Xiaoru Fan, Yingjun Ma, Limin Gao, Haiyan Lu, Zhiye Wang, Art E. Cho, Xuefeng Yao, Chunming Liu, Naoki Sugimoto, Shiwei Guo, Xiangdong Fu, Qirong Shen, Guohua Xu, Luis Rafael Herrera-Estrella, Xiaorong Fan.

Felicitamos al estudiantado y profesorado que contribuyeron en esta investigación por su arduo trabajo.

Abstract: Climate change negatively affects crop yield, which hinders efforts to reach agricultural sustainability and food security. Here, we show that a previously unidentified allele of the nitrate transporter gene OsNRT2.3 is required to maintain high yield and high nitrogen use efficiency under high temperatures. We demonstrate that this tolerance to high temperatures in rice accessions harboring the HTNE-2 (high temperature resistant and nitrogen efficient-2) alleles from enhanced translation of the OsNRT2.3b mRNA isoform and the decreased abundance of a unique small RNA (sNRT2.3-1) derived from the 5′ untranslated region of OsNRT2.3. sNRT2.3-1 binds to the OsNRT2.3a mRNA in a temperature-dependent manner. Our findings reveal that allelic variation in the 5′ untranslated region of OsNRT2.3 leads to an increase in OsNRT2.3b protein levels and higher yield during high-temperature stress. Our results also provide a breeding strategy to produce rice varieties with higher grain yield and lower N fertilizer input suitable for a sustainable agriculture that is resilient against climate change.