OsMADS57 together with OsTB1 coordinates transcription of its target OsWRKY94 and D14 to switch its organogenesis to defense for cold adaptation in rice

Summary

• Plants modify their development to adapt to their environment, protecting themselves from detrimental conditions such as chilling stress by triggering a variety of signaling pathways; however, little is known about how plants coordinate developmental patterns and stress responses at the molecular level.

• Here, we demonstrate that interacting transcription factors Os MADS57 and Os TB1 directly target the defense gene Os WRKY94 and the organogenesis gene D14 to trade off the functions controlling/moderating rice tolerance to cold.

• Overexpression of Os MADS57 maintains rice tiller growth under chilling stress. Os MADS57 binds directly to the promoter of Os WRKY94 , activating its transcription for the cold stress response, while suppressing its activity under normal temperatures. In addition, Os WRKY94 was directly targeted and suppressed by Os TB1 under both normal and chilling temperatures. However, D14 transcription was directly promoted by Os MADS57 for suppressing tillering under the chilling treatment, whereas D14 was repressed for enhancing tillering under normal condition.We demonstrated that Os MADS57 and Os TB1 conversely affect rice chilling tolerance via targeting Os WRKY94 .

• Our findings highlight a molecular genetic mechanism coordinating organogenesis and chilling tolerance in rice, which supports and extends recent work suggesting that chilling stress environments influence organ differentiation.