Natural variation in CTB4a enhances rice adaptation to cold habitats.
Low temperature is a major factor limiting rice productivity and geographical distribution. Improved cold tolerance and expanded cultivation to high-altitude or high-latitude regions would help meet growing rice demand. Here we explored a QTL for cold tolerance and cloned the gene, CTB4a (cold tolerance at booting stage), encoding a conserved leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase. We show that different CTB4a alleles confer distinct levels of cold tolerance and selection for variation in the CTB4a promoter region has occurred on the basis of environmental temperature. The newly generated cold-tolerant haplotype Tej-Hap-KMXBG was retained by artificial selection during temperate japonica evolution in cold habitats for low-temperature acclimation. Moreover, CTB4a interacts with AtpB, a beta subunit of ATP synthase. Upregulation of CTB4a correlates with increased ATP synthase activity, ATP content, enhanced seed setting and improved yield under cold stress conditions. These findings suggest strategies to improve cold tolerance in crop plants.
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Zhanying
Z
Zhang
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Jinjie
J
Li
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.|Rice Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530007, China.
Yinghua
Y
Pan
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Jilong
J
Li
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.|Hubei Key Laboratory of Food Crop Germplasm and Genetic Improvement, Food Crops Institute, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430064, China.
Lei
L
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Hongli
H
Shi
Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650205, China.
Yawen
Y
Zeng
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Haifeng
H
Guo
Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650205, China.
Shuming
S
Yang
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Weiwei
W
Zheng
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Jianping
J
Yu
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Xingming
X
Sun
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Gangling
G
Li
State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Yanglin
Y
Ding
State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Liang
L
Ma
Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650205, China.
Shiquan
S
Shen
Biotechnology and Genetic Resources Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming 650205, China.
Luyuan
L
Dai
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Hongliang
H
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Shuhua
S
Yang
State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Yan
Y
Guo
Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, Ministry of Education/Beijing Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Zichao
0000-0002-3186-1132
Z
Li
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D003080:Cold Temperature; D017753:Ecosystem; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D013312:Stress, Physiological