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NH4+ Suppresses NO3–-Dependent Lateral Root Growth and Alters Gene Expression and Gravity Response in OsAMT1 RNAi Mutants of Rice (Oryza sativa)

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Abstract

The AMT1 family comprises major ammonium transporters in rice roots. In this study, we utilized AMT1 RNAi mutants (amt1) to explore how AMT1 affects NH4+- and NO3–-mediated morphological development and NH4+-responsive gene expression in roots. In the presence of NH4+, amt1 showed inhibition of NO3–- dependent lateral root development. The inhibitory action of NH4+ on lateral root growth was independent of the NO3– concentrations supplied to amt1 roots. The results of split root assays indicated that NH4+ exerts systemic action in inhibiting NO3–-dependent lateral root development in amt1. Further study with NAA and NOA, a potent auxin flux inhibitor, suggested that perturbation of membrane dynamics might not be the primary cause of the inhibitory action of NH4+ on NO3–-mediated lateral root growth in amt1 mutants. RNA-seq analysis of NH4+-responsive genes showed that approximately half of DEGs observed in wild-type roots were not detected in the DEGs of amt1 roots. Gene ontology enrichment analysis suggested that the expression of specific functional gene groups were affected by amt1 during the early response to NH4+. Auxin-responsive gene expression and root gravity responses were altered in amt1. This study demonstrated that AMT1 affects the interactions not only between ammonium and nitrate in lateral root growth but also between auxin and NH4+ in rice roots.

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source for 14 d. Fresh nutrient solutions were provided every 2 days. a, b, c, d show quantification of seminal root length, crown root numbers, lateral root density, and lateral root length, respectively. Crown roots longer than 0.5 cm were counted separately from those shorter than 0.5 cm. e Crown roots grown in ¼ NS containing NH4+. b Each bar consists of a number of crown roots longer than 0.5 cm (lower part) and those shorter than 0.5 cm (upper part). Red arrows in (e) indicate crown roots shorter than 0.5 cm. Scale bar = 1 cm. Data of (a, b, c, d) are means ± SE (n > 10 plants per line). Different letters indicate significant differences between samples (P < 0.05)

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (PJ01326601), the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea, and from Support Plan for Innovative Talents in Colleges and Universities of Liaoning Province [LR2017037].

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Author notes

  1. Vikranth Kumar and Sung Hoon Kim authors are contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Plus Program), Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Research Center (PMBBRC), Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, 52828, Republic of Korea

    Vikranth Kumar, Sung Hoon Kim, Jin Hee Jeong, Moch Rosyadi Adnan, Bernet Agung Saputra & Chang-deok Han

  2. Plasma Technology Research Center, National Fusion Research Institute, 37 Dongjangsan-ro, Gunsan, 54004, Republic of Korea

    Ryza A. Priatama

  3. Division of Horticulture Industry, Wonkwang University, Iksan, 54538, Republic of Korea

    Chul Min Kim

  4. Department of Horticulture Bioscience, College of Natural Resource and Life Sciences, Pusan National University, Miryang, 50463, Republic of Korea

    Byoung Il Je

  5. Division of Biological Sciences, Wonkwang University, Iksan, 54538, Republic of Korea

    Soon Ju Park

  6. Graduate School of Biotechnology and Crop Biotech Institute, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 17104, Republic of Korea

    Ki Hong Jung

  7. School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, 41566, Republic of Korea

    Kyung Min Kim

  8. College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Dongling Road 120, Shenyang, 110866, China

    Yuan Hu Xuan

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  1. Vikranth Kumar
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Contributions

CDH and YHX experimental design, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript editing. VK and SHK data generation and analysis, image analysis, data presentation, manuscript writing. RAP, JHJ, MRA, BAS material generation and analysis, DNA extraction, qPCR analysis. KHJ bioinformatics analysis of RNA-seq data. CMK, BIJ, and SJP data analysis and interpretation. KMK material propagation.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yuan Hu Xuan or Chang-deok Han.

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Kumar, V., Kim, S.H., Priatama, R.A. et al. NH4+ Suppresses NO3–-Dependent Lateral Root Growth and Alters Gene Expression and Gravity Response in OsAMT1 RNAi Mutants of Rice (Oryza sativa). J. Plant Biol. 63, 391–407 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-020-09263-5

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