Rice actin binding protein RMD controls crown root angle in response to external phosphate

作者：Guoqiang Huang, Wanqi Liang, Craig J. Sturrock, Bipin K. Pandey, Jitender Giri, Stefan Mairhofer, Daoyang Wang, Lukas Muller, Hexin Tan, Larry M. York, Jing Yang, Yu Song, Yu‐Jin Kim, Yang Qiao, Jian Xu, Stefan Kepinski, Malcolm J. Bennett, Dabing Zhang · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-018-04710-x · 被引用次数：112 · 研究领域：Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism、Plant Molecular Biology Research、Polysaccharides and Plant Cell Walls

Root angle has a major impact on acquisition of nutrients like phosphate that accumulate in topsoil and in many species; low phosphate induces shallower root growth as an adaptive response. Identifying genes and mechanisms controlling root angle is therefore of paramount importance to plant breeding. Here we show that the actin-binding protein Rice Morphology Determinant (RMD) controls root growth angle by linking actin filaments and gravity-sensing organelles termed statoliths. RMD is upregulated in response to low external phosphate and mutants lacking of RMD have steeper crown root growth angles that are unresponsive to phosphate levels. RMD protein localizes to the surface of statoliths, and rmd mutants exhibit faster gravitropic response owing to more rapid statoliths movement. We conclude that adaptive changes to root angle in response to external phosphate availability are RMD dependent, providing a potential target for breeders.