Ethylene signaling in rice and Arabidopsis: conserved and diverged aspects.
Ethylene as a gas phytohormone plays significant roles in the whole life cycle of plants, ranging from growth and development to stress responses. A linear ethylene signaling pathway has been established in the dicotyledonous model plant Arabidopsis. However, the ethylene signaling mechanism in monocotyledonous plants such as rice is largely unclear. In this review, we compare the ethylene response phenotypes of dark-grown seedlings of Arabidopsis, rice, and other monocotyledonous plants (maize, wheat, sorghum, and Brachypodium distachyon) and pinpoint that rice has a distinct phenotype of root inhibition but coleoptile promotion in etiolated seedlings upon ethylene treatment. We further summarize the homologous genes of Arabidopsis ethylene signaling components in these monocotyledonous plants and discuss recent progress. Although conserved in most aspects, ethylene signaling in rice has evolved new features compared with that in Arabidopsis. These analyses provide novel insights into the understanding of ethylene signaling in the dicotyledonous Arabidopsis and monocotyledonous plants, particularly rice. Further characterization of rice ethylene-responsive mutants and their corresponding genes will help us better understand the whole picture of ethylene signaling mechanisms in plants.
State Key Lab of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Chao
C
Yang
State Key Lab of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Xiang
X
Lu
State Key Lab of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Biao
B
Ma
State Key Lab of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Shou-Yi
SY
Chen
State Key Lab of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: jszhang@genetics.ac.cn.
Jin-Song
JS
Zhang
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000378:metabolism*; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
D005030:Ethylenes; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; C036216:ethylene
Arabidopsis; crosstalk; ethylene response; monocotyledonous plants; rice; signaling