Ethylene Signaling in Rice and Arabidopsis: Conserved and Diverged Aspects

Abstract

Ethylene as a gas phytohormone plays significant roles in the whole life cycle of plants, ranging from growth and development to stress responses. A linear ethylene signaling pathway has been established in the dicotyledonous model plant Arabidopsis. However, the ethylene signaling mechanism in monocotyledonous plants such as rice is largely unclear. In this review, we compare the ethylene response phenotypes of dark-grown seedlings of Arabidopsis, rice, and other monocotyledonous plants (maize, wheat, sorghum, and Brachypodium distachyon) and pinpoint that rice has a distinct phenotype of root inhibition but coleoptile promotion in etiolated seedlings upon ethylene treatment. We further summarize the homologous genes of Arabidopsis ethylene signaling components in these monocotyledonous plants and discuss recent progress. Although conserved in most aspects, ethylene signaling in rice has evolved new features compared with that in Arabidopsis. These analyses provide novel insights into the understanding of ethylene signaling in the dicotyledonous Arabidopsis and monocotyledonous plants, particularly rice. Further characterization of rice ethylene-responsive mutants and their corresponding genes will help us better understand the whole picture of ethylene signaling mechanisms in plants.

The rubber tree genome reveals new insights into rubber production and species adaptation

“…About one-quarter of the 342 annotated DEGs (>2-fold expressional change) are transcription factors (53) and protein kinases (31) (Supplementary Tables 22 and 23). Both gene groups are essential in ethylene signal transduction and response in higher plants 32,33 .…”

“…Of particular interest, expressions of two EIN2s and one EIL1 were apparently boosted in latex after ethylene treatment. As the central transducer and master transcription factors in ethylene signalling, EIN2 and EIN3/EIL1 genes are mainly controlled by ethylene at a post-translational level 32,33 . Hitherto, none of these genes identified in other plants has been found to be transcriptionally regulated by ethylene 32 .…”

“…As the central transducer and master transcription factors in ethylene signalling, EIN2 and EIN3/EIL1 genes are mainly controlled by ethylene at a post-translational level 32,33 . Hitherto, none of these genes identified in other plants has been found to be transcriptionally regulated by ethylene 32 . The transcriptional enhancement of EIN2 and EIL1 in latex suggests an active ethylene signalling in laticifers.…”

Overexpression of <em>AmRosea1 </em>Gene Confers Drought and Salt Tolerance in Rice

“…Rice has a different ethylene response phenotype in comparison with Arabidopsis and the other monocotyledonous species tested [48]. Meanwhile, unlike the positive roles of EIN2 and EIN3 in salinity response in Arabidopsis, the main positive ethylene signaling components MHZ7/OsEIN2, MHZ6/OsEIL1, and OsEIL2 all negatively regulate the salinity-tolerance of rice seedlings [48][49][50][51][52][53].…”

Characterization of the expression of the stress-responsive <i>PpERS1</i> gene from peach and analysis of its promoter using transgenic tomato

“…Ethylene receptors are a family of integral membrane members similar to bacterial two-component histidine kinases, which act as negative regulators of the ethylene response pathway (Hua and Meyerowitz 1998;Liu et al 2010). To date, five ethylene receptors-ETR1, ERS1, ETR2, EIN4, and ERS2-have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, and components involved in the signaling pathways downstream of their activation have been characterized (Chang et al 1993;Yang et al 2015).…”