MutS HOMOLOG1 silencing mediates ORF220 substoichiometric shifting and causes male sterility in Brassica juncea

Na Zhao, Xinyue Xu, Yashitola Wamboldt, Sally A. Mackenzie, Xiaodong Yang, Zhongyuan Hu, Jinghua Yang, Mingfang Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) has consistently been associated with the expression of mitochondrial open reading frames (ORFs) that arise from genomic rearrangements. Spontaneous fertility reversion in CMS has been observed in several cases, but a clear understanding of fertility reversion controlled by nuclear genetic influences has been lacking. Here, we identified spontaneous fertile revertant lines for Brassica juncea CMS cytoplasm in which the mitochondrial genome has undergone substoichiometric shifting (SSS) to suppress ORF220 copy number. We placed ORF220, with or without a mitochondrial targeting presequence, under the control of the CaMV35S and AP3 promoters in Arabidopsis to confirm that ORF220 causes male sterility when mitochondrially localized. We found that copy number of the ORF220 gene was altered under conditions that suppress MSH1, a nuclear gene that controls illegitimate recombination in plant mitochondria. MSH1-RNAi lines with increased ORF220 copy number were male sterile compared with wild type. We found that a wide range of genes involved in anther development were up- and down-regulated in revertant and MSH1-RNAi lines, respectively. The system that we have developed offers valuable future insight into the interplay of MSH1 and SSS in CMS induction and fertility reversion as a mediator of nuclear-mitochondrial crosstalk.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)435-444
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of experimental botany
Volume67
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physiology
  • Plant Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'MutS HOMOLOG1 silencing mediates ORF220 substoichiometric shifting and causes male sterility in Brassica juncea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this