title: OsARG encodes an arginase that plays critical roles in panicle development and grain production in rice.
abstract: Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for plant growth and development. Arginine is considered to be an important amino acid for nitrogen transport and storage, playing a crucial role during plant seedling development. However, little is known about the role of arginine in nitrogen remobilization at the reproductive stage. We isolated a rice mutant nglf-1 with reduced plant height, small panicle and grain size, and low seed-setting rate (10% in nglf-1 compared to 93% in wild-type). Map-based cloning revealed that the mutant phenotype was caused by loss of function of a gene (OsARG) encoding an arginine hydrolysis enzyme, which is consistent with arginine accumulation in the mutant. The phenotype was partially corrected supplying exogenous nitrogen, and fully corrected by expression of a wild-type OsARG transgene. Over-expression of OsARG in rice (cv. Kitaake) increased grain number per plant under nitrogen-limited conditions. OsARG was ubiquitously expressed in various organs, but most strongly in developing panicles. The OsARG protein was localized in the mitochondria, consistent with other arginases. Our results suggest that the arginase encoded by OsARG, a key enzyme in Arg catabolism, plays a critical role during panicle development, especially under conditions of insufficient exogenous nitrogen. OsARG is a potential target for crop improvement.
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Ruizhen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Yueqin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Jiangsu Plant Gene Engineering Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Yulong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xiaole
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Jingcui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoding
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Jiulin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Cailin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Xiuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Fuqing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Jiangsu Plant Gene Engineering Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
authors.forename: Haiyang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.|National Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Jiangsu Plant Gene Engineering Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D001119:Arginase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000254:growth & development; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012621:Seasons; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D001119:Arginase; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: arginase; arginine; mutant; nitrogen; panicle development; rice (Oryza sativa)