Autophagy-mediated regulation of reproduction, endosperm development and metabolism in rice.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14681
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant nutrition/Soil science
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Science
• Principal Investigator: Kuchitsu Kazuyuki 東京理科大学, 理工学部応用生物科学科, 教授 (50211884)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: オートファジー / イネ / 脂質 / 登熟 / リサイクル / 病虫害抵抗性 / 胚乳 / タペート細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Autophagy, one of the major catabolic pathways in eukaryotic cells, plays critical roles in recycling of proteins and metabolites including lipids, and is involved in many physiological processes including abiotic and biotic stress responses, maintenance of cellular homeostasis, efficient nutrient remobilization at the whole-plant level and biomass production in plants. However, its roles in reproductive development had remained poorly understood. Rice autophagy-deficient mutants showed sporophytic male sterility, failed to accumulate lipidic and starch components in pollen grains at the flowering stage, showed reduced pollen germination activity, and had limited anther dehiscence. We showed that sugar and starch metabolism during seed maturation is also affected in the autophagy-deficient mutant of rice. Phenotypic, microscopic and proteomic analyses revealed critical roles of autophagy in seed development and quality of grains in rice.

Free Research Field

植物分子生理学