Complex biological processes such as plant growth and development are often under the control of transcription factors that regulate the expression of large sets of genes and activate subordinate transcription factors in a cascade-like fashion. Here, by screening candidate photosynthesis-related transcription factors in rice, we identified a DREB (Dehydration Responsive Element Binding) family member, OsDREB1C, in which expression is induced by both light and low nitrogen status. We show that OsDREB1C drives functionally diverse transcriptional programs determining photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen utilization, and flowering time. Field trials with OsDREB1C-overexpressing rice revealed yield increases of 41.3 to 68.3% and, in addition, shortened growth duration, improved nitrogen use efficiency, and promoted efficient resource allocation, thus providing a strategy toward achieving much-needed increases in agricultural productivity. Description Genetic improvement drives rice yield Improvements in agricultural productivity could lessen the impact of agriculture on the environment and perhaps supply more food from less land. Working in rice, Wei et al. identified a transcription factor that, when overexpressed, has a variety of useful effects (see the Perspective by Kelly). The gene’s expression is induced by both light and low-nitrogen status, and it regulates photosynthetic capacity, nitrogen utilization, and flowering time. In field trials, plants overexpressing this gene delivered greater yield, shortened growth duration, and improved nitrogen use efficiency. —PJH Overexpression of a single transcription factor improves the agricultural productivity of rice. INTRODUCTION Rapid population growth, rising meat consumption, and the expanding use of crops for nonfood and nonfeed purposes increase the pressure on global food production. At the same time, the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer to enhance agricultural production poses serious threats to both human health and the environment. To achieve the required yield increases and make agriculture more sustainable, intensified breeding and genetic engineering efforts are needed to obtain new crop varieties with higher photosynthetic capacity and improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). However, progress has been slow, largely due to the limited knowledge about regulator genes that potentially can coordinately optimize carbon assimilation and nitrogen utilization. RATIONALE Transcription factors control diverse biological processes by binding to the promoters (or intragenic regions) of target genes, and a number of transcription factors have been identified that control carbon fixation and nitrogen assimilation. A previous comparative analysis of maize and rice leaf transcriptomes and metabolomes revealed a set of 118 candidate transcription factors that may act as regulators of C4 photosynthesis. We screened these transcription factors for their responsiveness to light and nitrogen supply in rice, and found that the gene Dehydration-Responsive Element-Binding Protein 1C (OsDREB1C), a member of the APETALA2/ethylene-responsive element binding factor (AP2/ERF) family, exhibits properties expected of a regulator that can simultaneously modulate photosynthesis and nitrogen utilization. RESULTS OsDREB1C expression is induced in rice by both light and low-nitrogen status. We generated overexpression lines (OsDREB1C-OE) and knockout mutants (OsDREB1C-KO) in rice, and conducted field trials in northern, southeastern, and southern China from 2018 to 2021. OsDREB1C-OE plants exhibited 41.3 to 68.3% higher yield than wild-type (WT) plants due to increased grain number per panicle, elevated grain weight, and enhanced harvest index. We observed that light-induced growth promotion of OsDREB1C-OE plants was accompanied by enhanced photosynthetic capacity and concomitant increases in photosynthetic assimilates. In addition, 15N feeding experiments and field studies with different nitrogen fertilization regimes revealed that NUE was improved in OsDREB1C-OE plants due to elevated nitrogen uptake and transport activity. Moreover, OsDREB1C overexpression led to more efficient carbon and nitrogen allocation from source to sink, thus boosting grain yield, particularly under low-nitrogen conditions. Additionally, the OsDREB1C-OE plants flowered 13 to 19 days earlier and accumulated higher biomass at the heading stage than WT plants under long-day conditions. OsDREB1C is localized in the nucleus and the cytosol and functions as a transcriptional activator that directly binds to cis elements in the DNA, including dehydration-responsive element (DRE)/C repeat (CRT), GCC, and G boxes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and transcriptomic analyses identified a total of 9735 putative OsDREB1C-binding sites at the genome-wide level. We discovered that five genes targeted by OsDREB1C [ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit 3 (OsRBCS3), nitrate reductase 2 (OsNR2), nitrate transporter 2.4 (OsNRT2.4), nitrate transporter 1.1B (OsNRT1.1B), and flowering locus T-like 1 (OsFTL1)] are closely associated with photosynthesis, nitrogen utilization, and flowering, the key traits altered by OsDREB1C overexpression. ChIP-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (ChIP-qPCR) and DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq) assays confirmed that OsDREB1C activates the transcription of these genes by binding to the promoter of OsRBCS3 and to exons of OsNR2, OsNRT2.4, OsNRT1.1B, and OsFTL1. By showing that biomass and yield increases can also be achieved by OsDREB1C overexpression in wheat and Arabidopsis, we have demonstrated that the mode of action and the biological function of the transcription factor are evolutionarily conserved. CONCLUSION Overexpression of OsDREB1C not only boosts grain yields but also confers higher NUE and early flowering. Our work demonstrates that by genetically modulating the expression of a single transcriptional regulator gene, substantial yield increases can be achieved while the growth duration of the crop is shortened. The existing natural allelic variation in OsDREB1C, the highly conserved function of the transcription factor in seed plants, and the ease with which its expression can be altered by genetic engineering suggest that this gene could be the target of future crop improvement strategies toward more efficient and more sustainable food production. OsDREB1C coordinates yield and growth duration. OsDREB1C was identified by its responsiveness to light and low nitrogen in a screen of 118 transcription factors related to C4 photosynthesis. Transcriptional activation of multiple downstream target genes by OsDREB1C confers enhanced photosynthesis, improved nitrogen utilization, and early flowering. Together, the activated genes cause substantial yield increases in rice and wheat.

A transcriptional regulator that boosts grain yields and shortens the growth duration of rice

Anthocyanins play a variety of adaptive roles in both vegetative tissues and reproductive organs of plants. The broad functionality of these compounds requires sophisticated regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway to allow proper localization, timing, and optimal intensity of pigment deposition. While it is well-established that the committed steps of anthocyanin biosynthesis are activated by a highly conserved MYB-bHLH-WDR (MBW) protein complex in virtually all flowering plants, anthocyanin repression seems to be achieved by a wide variety of protein and small RNA families that function in different tissue types and in response to different developmental, environmental, and hormonal cues. In this review, we survey recent progress in the identification of anthocyanin repressors and the characterization of their molecular mechanisms. We find that these seemingly very different repression modules act through a remarkably similar logic, the so-called 'double-negative logic'. Much of the double-negative regulation of anthocyanin production involves signal-induced degradation or sequestration of the repressors from the MBW protein complex. We discuss the functional and evolutionary advantages of this logic design compared with simple or sequential positive regulation. These advantages provide a plausible explanation as to why plants have evolved so many anthocyanin repressors.

Repressors of anthocyanin biosynthesis.

Chloroplasts are best known for their role in photosynthesis, but they also allow nitrogen and sulphur assimilation, amino acid, fatty acid, nucleotide and hormone synthesis. How chloroplasts develop is therefore relevant to these diverse and fundamental biological processes, but also to attempts at their rational redesign. Light is strictly required for chloroplast formation in all angiosperms and directly regulates the expression of hundreds of chloroplast-related genes. Light also modulates the levels of several hormones including brassinosteriods, cytokinins, auxins and gibberellins, which themselves control chloroplast development particularly during early stages of plant development. Transcription factors such as GOLDENLIKE1&2 (GLK1&2), GATA NITRATE-INDUCIBLE CARBON METABOLISM-INVOLVED (GNC) and CYTOKININ-RESPONSIVE GATA FACTOR 1 (CGA1) act downstream of both light and phytohormone signalling to regulate chloroplast development. Thus, in green tissues transcription factors, light signalling and hormone signalling form a complex network regulating the transcription of chloroplast- and photosynthesis-related genes to control the development and number of chloroplasts per cell. We use this conceptual framework to identify points of regulation that could be harnessed to modulate chloroplast abundance and increase photosynthetic efficiency of crops, and to highlight future avenues to overcome gaps in current knowledge.

Chloroplast development in green plant tissues: the interplay between light, hormone, and transcriptional regulation.

Enhancing the light reactions of photosynthesis: strategies, controversies and perspectives.

Abstract Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century, and this decade is a critical time for action to mitigate the worst effects on human populations and ecosystems. Plant science can play an important role in developing crops with enhanced resilience to harsh conditions (e.g. heat, drought, salt stress, flooding, disease outbreaks) and engineering efficient carbon-capturing and carbon-sequestering plants. Here, we present examples of research being conducted in these areas and discuss challenges and open questions as a call to action for the plant science community.

/pdf/climate-change-challenges-plant-science-solutions-3a9bootb.pdf

Climate change challenges, plant science solutions

Photosynthetic efficiency is a major target for improvement of crop yield potential under agricultural field conditions. Inefficiencies can occur in many steps of the photosynthetic process, from chloroplast biogenesis to functioning of the light harvesting and carbon fixation reactions. Nuclear-encoded GOLDEN2-LIKE (GLK) transcription factors regulate some of the earliest steps by activating target genes encoding chloroplast-localized and photosynthesis-related proteins. Here we show that constitutive expression of maize GLK genes in rice leads to enhanced levels of chlorophylls and pigment-protein antenna complexes, and that these increases lead to improved light harvesting efficiency via photosystem II in field-grown plants. Increased levels of xanthophylls further buffer the negative effects of photoinhibition under high or fluctuating light conditions by facilitating greater dissipation of excess absorbed energy as heat. Significantly, the enhanced photosynthetic capacity of field-grown transgenic plants resulted in increased carbohydrate levels and a 30-40% increase in both vegetative biomass and grain yield.

Maize GOLDEN2-LIKE genes enhance biomass and grain yields in rice by improving photosynthesis and reducing photoinhibition.

The invention discloses application of ZmG2 in improving strong light stress resistance and yield of plants. ZmG2 is A1), A2) or A3) as following: A1) protein having an amino acid sequence of a sequence 4; A2) protein obtained by substitution and/or deletion and/or addition of one or several amino acid residues on an amino acid sequence shown in the sequence 4 in a sequence table and with the samefunctions; and A3) fusion protein obtained by connecting a tag to the N-terminal or/and C-terminal of the A1) or the A2). Experiments show that the ZmG2 and an encoding gene thereof can improve the ability of the plants to resist high light suppression and improve biomass and yield of the plants, specifically, compared with wild-type plants, transgenic plants obtained by introducing the encodinggene of the ZmG2 into the plants have improved plant ability to resist high light suppression and improved plant biomass and yield.

Application of ZmG2 in improving strong light stress resistance and yield of plants

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Maize GOLDEN2-LIKE genes enhance biomass and grain yields in rice by improving photosynthesis and reducing photoinhibition.

Application of ZmG2 in improving strong light stress resistance and yield of plants