Rice yield is frequently impaired by abiotic adverse conditions in several parts of the globe. One of these constraints is soil iron toxicity. Plants respond to adverse conditions by activating different mechanisms, some of which have already been elucidated. Recently, autophagy has been associated with plant tolerance to abiotic stresses, however, the involvement of this mechanism in the response to iron toxicity has never been studied. Autophagy is a process of recycling cellular components and involves approximately 30 genes in rice. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterise the regulation and transcriptional activation of OsATG genes in rice seedlings under iron toxicity. In this condition, OsATG genes were induced in the tolerant genotype and repressed in the sensitive one. Also, OsATG gene promoters are rich in W‐box cis‐regulatory elements targeted by WRKY transcription factors. These results suggest that OsATG genes are involved in early iron toxicity response and the regulation of these genes can occur via WRKY. This study provides early insights into the involvement of autophagy in iron toxicity response.

中文翻译：

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ATG基因是水稻早期铁毒性反应的新参与者

在全球一些地区，非生物不利条件经常会损害水稻的产量。这些限制之一是土壤铁的毒性。植物通过激活不同的机制来应对不利条件，其中一些机制已经阐明。最近，自噬与植物对非生物胁迫的耐受性有关，但是，从未研究过这种机制对铁毒性反应的参与。自噬是一种回收细胞成分的过程，涉及水稻中约30个基因。因此，本研究的目的是表征铁毒性下水稻幼苗中OsATG基因的调控和转录激活。在这种情况下，OsATG基因在耐受基因型中被诱导，而在敏感基因型中被抑制。另外，OsATG基因启动子富含WRKY转录因子靶向的W-box顺式调控元件。这些结果表明，OsATG基因参与了早期的铁毒性反应，并且可以通过WRKY来调节这些基因。这项研究提供了对自噬参与铁毒性反应的早期见解。