1. Molecular regulation of ZmMs7 required for maize male fertility and development of a dominant male-sterility system in multiple species
- Author
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Yuan Dingyang, Zhang Danfeng, Ruogu Liu, Meijuan Duan, Biao Ma, Taotao Zhu, Jinping Li, Zhenying Dong, Ke Xie, Ziwen Li, Dong Yu, Zhang Simiao, Dongcheng Liu, Chang Liu, Xiangyuan Wan, Tian Youhui, Yuwen Zhang, An Xueli, Longping Yuan, Quancan Hou, and Suowei Wu
- Subjects
ZmMs7 ,dominant male-sterility system ,Crops, Agricultural ,Plant Infertility ,Sterility ,CAAT box ,Arabidopsis ,PHD finger ,Zea mays ,Pollen exine formation ,protein-protein interaction ,Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ,Promoter Regions, Genetic ,Gene ,Plant Proteins ,Genetics ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Agricultural Sciences ,food and beverages ,Oryza ,Biological Sciences ,biology.organism_classification ,Plants, Genetically Modified ,Genetically modified rice ,Hybrid seed ,Pollen - Abstract
Significance Developing a male-sterility system that is effective in multiple species is essential for hybrid seed production in different plants, especially for plants without cloned male-sterility genes. Here, we identified the transcriptional regulation mechanism for maize male-sterility gene ZmMs7 and thereby developed a dominant male-sterility system that was proved to be effective in maize, rice, and Arabidopsis. Compared with current male-sterility systems, this system has potential advantages, e.g., utilization of a single transgene cassette, high stability of male sterility under different genetic backgrounds, and producing fluorescent transgenic and normal color nontransgenic F1 hybrid seeds which can be used flexibly in different countries where transgenic crop cultivation is prohibited or allowed. Therefore, it is a simple, cost-effective, and multiple-crop-applicable biotechnology., Understanding the molecular basis of male sterility and developing practical male-sterility systems are essential for heterosis utilization and commercial hybrid seed production in crops. Here, we report molecular regulation by genic male-sterility gene maize male sterility 7 (ZmMs7) and its application for developing a dominant male-sterility system in multiple species. ZmMs7 is specifically expressed in maize anthers, encodes a plant homeodomain (PHD) finger protein that functions as a transcriptional activator, and plays a key role in tapetal development and pollen exine formation. ZmMs7 can interact with maize nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) subunits to form ZmMs7-NF-YA6-YB2-YC9/12/15 protein complexes that activate target genes by directly binding to CCAAT box in their promoter regions. Premature expression of ZmMs7 in maize by an anther-specific promoter p5126 results in dominant and complete male sterility but normal vegetative growth and female fertility. Early expression of ZmMs7 downstream genes induced by prematurely expressed ZmMs7 leads to abnormal tapetal development and pollen exine formation in p5126-ZmMs7 maize lines. The p5126-ZmMs7 transgenic rice and Arabidopsis plants display similar dominant male sterility. Meanwhile, the mCherry gene coupled with p5126-ZmMs7 facilitates the sorting of dominant sterility seeds based on fluorescent selection. In addition, both the ms7-6007 recessive male-sterility line and p5126-ZmMs7M dominant male-sterility line are highly stable under different genetic germplasms and thus applicable for hybrid maize breeding. Together, our work provides insight into the mechanisms of anther and pollen development and a promising technology for hybrid seed production in crops.
- Published
- 2020