1月31日，《美国科学院院刊》在线发表了我国科学家成功克隆的控制水稻光敏感核不育的基因pms3成果，此研究成果，可以直接应用于水稻两系不育系的培育，促进作物杂种优势利用研究的发展。

文章介绍，光敏感雄性核不育水稻具有在长日照条件下不育，短日照条件下可育的特性是杂种优势利用的重要部分。已有的研究表明, 长链非编码RNA (lncRNAs)能在大部分真核生物基因组中被转录。但是, 其中只有很小一部分具有潜在的受光周期调控能力。因此, 对长链非编码RNA生物学功能的研究越来越多。该研究以一个1236碱基序列的长链非编码RNA为研究对象, 此基因调控水稻中的光敏感雄性核不育,简称为LDMAR。研究发现植物花粉在长日照下正常的生长发育需要大量的LDMAR转录产物。自然突变引起单核苷酸多态性(SNP)发生变化, 将其从野生型转变为突变型, 从而改变LDMAR二级结构。碱基突变导致LDMAR基因本身启动子区间发生甲基化修饰，特别是在长日照条件下表达量下降，不能满足水稻花粉发育对该表达产物的需求，从而在长日照条件下雄性不育。长链非编码RNA能直接导致基因结构变化, 单核苷酸多态性的改变能引起长链非编码RNA功能变化, 这一原理与基因结构上的氨基酸置换相似。从分子生物学上研究光敏感雄性核不育对理解生物过程中调控光周期的分子机制及研究发展超级水稻的雄性不育都具有很大的意义。

据报道，pms3是在水稻中第一个发现并进行了功能研究的长链非编码RNA。

（编辑：张群）

论文摘要：

Hybrid rice has greatly contributed to the global increase of rice productivity. A major component that facilitated the development of hybrids was a mutant showing photoperiod-sensitive male sterility (PSMS) with its fertility regulated by day length. Transcriptome studies have shown that large portions of the eukaryotic genomic sequences are transcribed to long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). However, the potential roles for only a few lncRNAs have been brought to light at present. Thus, great efforts have to be invested to understand the biological functions of lncRNAs. Here we show that a lncRNA of 1,236 bases in length, referred to as long-day–specific male-fertility–associated RNA (LDMAR), regulates PSMS in rice. We found that sufficient amount of the LDMAR transcript is required for normal pollen development of plants grown under long-day conditions. A spontaneous mutation causing a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) between the wild-type and mutant altered the secondary structure of LDMAR. This change brought about increased methylation in the putative promoter region of LDMAR, which reduced the transcription of LDMAR specifically under long-day conditions, resulting in premature programmed cell death (PCD) in developing anthers, thus causing PSMS. Thus, a lncRNA could directly exert a major effect on a trait like a structure gene, and a SNP could alter the function of a lncRNA similar to amino acid substitution in structural genes. Molecular elucidating of PSMS has important implications for understanding molecular mechanisms of photoperiod regulation of many biological processes and also for developing male sterile germplasms for hybrid crop breeding.

详细信息：