Jasmonic acid-mediated stress responses share the molecular mechanism underlying male sterility induced by deficiency of ZmMs33 in maize
Ziwen Li,
Shuangshuang Liu,
Taotao Zhu,
Jing Wang,
Meng Sun,
Xueli An,
Xun Wei,
Cuimei Liu,
Jinfang Chu,
Xiangyuan Wan
Affiliations
Ziwen Li
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Shuangshuang Liu
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Taotao Zhu
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Jing Wang
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Meng Sun
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Xueli An
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China; Beijing Engineering Laboratory of Main Crop Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing Solidwill Sci-Tech Co., Ltd., Beijing 100192, China
Xun Wei
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China
Cuimei Liu
National Centre for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jinfang Chu
National Centre for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; College of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
Xiangyuan Wan
Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100024, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing 100192, China; Beijing Engineering Laboratory of Main Crop Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing Solidwill Sci-Tech Co., Ltd., Beijing 100192, China; Corresponding author.
Plant male reproduction is a fine-tuned developmental process that is susceptible to stressful environments and influences crop grain yields. Phytohormone signaling functions in control of plant normal growth and development as well as in response to external stresses, but the interaction or crosstalk among phytohormone signaling, stress response, and male reproduction in plants remains poorly understood. Cross-species comparison among 514 stress-response transcriptomic libraries revealed that ms33-6038, a genic male sterile mutant deficient in the ZmMs33/ZmGPAT6 gene, displayed an excessive drought stress-like transcriptional reprogramming in anthers triggered mainly by disturbed jasmonic acid (JA) homeostasis. An increased level of JA appeared in ZmMs33-deficient anthers at both meiotic and post-meiotic stages and activated genes involved in JA biosynthesis and signaling as well as genes functioning in JA-mediated drought response. Excessive accumulation of JA elevated expression level of a gene encoding a WRKY transcription factor that activated the ZmMs33 promoter. These findings reveal a feedback loop of ZmMs33-JA-WRKY-ZmMs33 in controlling male sterility and JA-mediated stress response in maize, shedding light on the crosstalk of stress response and male sterility mediated by phytohormone homeostasis and signaling.
