title: OsNF-YB1, a rice endosperm-specific gene, is essential for cell proliferation in endosperm development.
abstract: Cell cycle regulators are crucial for normal endosperm development and seed size determination. However, how the cell cycle related genes regulate endosperm development remains unclear. In this study, we reported a rice Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) gene OsNF-YB1, which was also identified as an endosperm-specific gene. Transcriptional profiling and promoter analysis revealed that OsNF-YB1 was highly expressed at the early stages of rice endosperm development (5-7 DAP, days after pollination). Repression of OsNF-YB1 resulted in differential expression of the genes in cell cycle pathway, which caused abnormal seeds with defected embryo and endosperm. Basic cytological analysis demonstrated that the reduced endosperm cell numbers disintegrated with the development of those abnormal seeds in OsNF-YB1 RNAi plants. Taken together, these results suggested that the endosperm-specific gene OsNF-YB1 might be a cell cycle regulator and played a role in maintaining the endosperm cell proliferation.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaocong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Zhanhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Dan
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China. Electronic address: yaojlmy@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jialing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D056625:Endosperm / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D012275:Oryza / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: Cell cycle regulator; Endosperm-specific expression; NF-YB; Rice