No abstract

The defects in storage proteins secretion in the endosperm of transgenic rice seeds often leads to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which produces floury and shrunken seeds, but the mechanism of this response remains unclear. We used an iTRAQ-based proteomics analysis of ER-stressed rice seeds due to the endosperm-specific suppression of OsSar1 to identify changes in the protein levels in response to ER stress. ER stress changed the expression of 405 proteins in rice seed by >2.0- fold compared with the wild-type control. Of these proteins, 140 were upregulated and 265 were downregulated. The upregulated proteins were mainly involved in protein modification, transport and degradation, and the downregulated proteins were mainly involved in metabolism and stress/defense responses. A KOBAS analysis revealed that protein-processing in the ER and degradation-related proteasome were the predominant upregulated pathways in the rice endosperm in response to ER stress. Trans-Golgi protein transport was also involved in the ER stress response. Combined with bioinformatic and molecular biology analyses, our proteomic data will facilitate our understanding of the systemic responses to ER stress in rice seeds.

The cuticle is a hydrophobic lipid layer covering the epidermal cells of terrestrial plants. Although many genes involved in Arabidopsis cuticle development have been identified, the transcriptional regulation of these genes is largely unknown. Previously, we demonstrated that AtCFL1 negatively regulates cuticle development by interacting with the HD-ZIP IV transcription factor HDG1. Here, we report that two bHLH transcription factors, AtCFL1 associated protein 1 (CFLAP1) and CFLAP2, are also involved in AtCFL1-mediated regulation of cuticle development. CFLAP1 and CFLAP2 interact with AtCFL1 both in vitro and in vivo. Overexpression of either CFLAP1 or CFLAP2 led to expressional changes of genes involved in fatty acids, cutin and wax biosynthesis pathways and caused multiple cuticle defective phenotypes such as organ fusion, breakage of the cuticle layer and decreased epicuticular wax crystal loading. Functional inactivation of CFLAP1 and CFLAP2 by chimeric repression technology caused opposite phenotypes to the CFLAP1 overexpressor plants. Interestingly, we find that, similar to the transcription factor HDG1, the function of CFLAP1 in cuticle development is dependent on the presence of AtCFL1. Furthermore, both HDG1 and CFLAP1/2 interact with the same C-terminal C4 zinc finger domain of AtCFL1, a domain that is essential for AtCFL1 function. These results suggest that AtCFL1 may serve as a master regulator in the transcriptional regulation of cuticle development, and that CFLAP1 and CFLAP2 are involved in the AtCFL1-mediated regulation pathway, probably through competing with HDG1 to bind to AtCFL1.