Integrative hormone and transcriptome analysis underline the role of abscisic acid in seed shattering of weedy rice

Abstract

Weedy rice is one of the most severe weeds in paddy fields, characterized by its high degree of seed shattering. Abscisic acid (ABA) serves as an abscission-accelerating signal and plays a critical role during abscission. However, mechanisms that link ABA and seed shattering remain elusive. In this study, WR04-6 (shattering) and SN9816 (non-shattering) were used to investigate the expression levels of genes involved in ABA biosynthesis and to determine the levels of ABA in tissues collected from the abscission zone (AZ) and the spikelet. ABA content in WR04-6, particularly in AZ, was significantly higher than in SN9816, significantly increasing prior to abscission. RNA-Sequencing and further expression analyses showed that the expression of OsNCED, the key gene involved in ABA biosynthesis, coincided with the increase of ABA content in the AZ and significantly increased during the seed shattering process. Additionally, the expression analysis of genes related to biosynthesis and metabolism of indole-3-acetic acid, gibberellin acid, and ethylene showed the greatest fold-change. Phytohormone levels associated with ABA co-expression-prediction revealed a potential signal transduction network among plant hormones involved in the regulation of seed abscission. Taken together, data presented in this study suggest that ABA contributes to seed shattering and transiently cooperates with other hormones, triggering a hormone imbalance that leads to the downstream activation of the AZ.