title: The rice RAD51C gene is required for the meiosis of both female and male gametocytes and the DNA repair of somatic cells.
abstract: The RecA/RAD51 family of rice (Oryza sativa) consists of at least 13 members. However, the functions of most of these members are unknown. Here the functional characterization of one member of this family, RAD51C, is reported. Knockout (KO) of RAD51C resulted in both female and male sterility in rice. Transferring RAD51C to the RAD51C-KO line restored fertility. Cytological analyses showed that the sterility of RAD51C-KO plants was associated with abnormal early meiotic processes in both megasporocytes and pollen mother cells (PMCs). PMCs had an absence of normal pachytene chromosomes and had abnormal chromosome fragments. The RAD51C-KO line showed no obvious difference from wild-type plants in mitosis in the anther wall cells, which was consistent with the observation that the RAD51C-KO line did not have obviously abnormal morphology during vegetative development. However, the RAD51C-KO line was sensitive to different DNA-damaging agents. These results suggest that RAD51C is essential for reproductive development by regulating meiosis as well as for DNA damage repair in somatic cells.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yanjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kou
authors.forename: Yuxiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Xianghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jinghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Shiping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D060054:Agrobacterium / Q000235:genetics; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D055993:Germ Cells, Plant / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D008540:Meiosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009153:Mutagens / Q000494:pharmacology; D012275:Oryza / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D010802:Phylogeny; D051479:Plant Infertility; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011058:Pollen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009153:Mutagens; D010940:Plant Proteins; C036483:T-DNA; D051135:Rad51 Recombinase