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Plant responses to drought stress require the regulation of transcriptional networks via drought-responsive transcription factors, which mediate a range of morphological and physiological changes. AP2/ERF transcription factors are known to act as key regulators of drought resistance transcriptional networks; however, little is known about the associated molecular mechanisms that give rise to specific morphological and physiological adaptations. In this study, we functionally characterized the rice (Oryza sativa) drought-responsive AP2/ERF transcription factor OsERF71, which is expressed predominantly in the root meristem, pericycle, and endodermis. Overexpression of OsERF71, either throughout the entire plant or specifically in roots, resulted in a drought resistance phenotype at the vegetative growth stage, indicating that overexpression in roots was sufficient to confer drought resistance. The root-specific overexpression was more effective in conferring drought resistance at the reproductive stage, such that grain yield was increased by 23% to 42% over wild-type plants or whole-body overexpressing transgenic lines under drought conditions. OsERF71 overexpression in roots elevated the expression levels of genes related to cell wall loosening and lignin biosynthetic genes, which correlated with changes in root structure, the formation of enlarged aerenchyma, and high lignification levels. Furthermore, OsERF71 was found to directly bind to the promoter of OsCINNAMOYL-COENZYME A REDUCTASE1, a key gene in lignin biosynthesis. These results indicate that the OsERF71-mediated drought resistance pathway recruits factors involved in cell wall modification to enable root morphological adaptations, thereby providing a mechanism for enhancing drought resistance., (© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.)

Abiotic stress, including drought, salinity, and temperature extremes, regulates gene expression at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Expression profiling of total messenger RNAs (mRNAs) from rice (Oryza sativa) leaves grown under stress conditions revealed that the transcript levels of photosynthetic genes are reduced more rapidly than others, a phenomenon referred to as stress-induced mRNA decay (SMD). By comparing RNA polymerase II engagement with the steady-state mRNA level, we show here that SMD is a posttranscriptional event. The SMD of photosynthetic genes was further verified by measuring the half-lives of the small subunit of Rubisco (RbcS1) and Chlorophyll a/b-Binding Protein1 (Cab1) mRNAs during stress conditions in the presence of the transcription inhibitor cordycepin. To discern any correlation between SMD and the process of translation, changes in total and polysome-associated mRNA levels after stress were measured. Total and polysome-associated mRNA levels of two photosynthetic (RbcS1 and Cab1) and two stress-inducible (Dehydration Stress-Inducible Protein1 and Salt-Induced Protein) genes were found to be markedly similar. This demonstrated the importance of polysome association for transcript stability under stress conditions. Microarray experiments performed on total and polysomal mRNAs indicate that approximately half of all mRNAs that undergo SMD remain polysome associated during stress treatments. To delineate the functional determinant(s) of mRNAs responsible for SMD, the RbcS1 and Cab1 transcripts were dissected into several components. The expressions of different combinations of the mRNA components were analyzed under stress conditions, revealing that both 3' and 5' untranslated regions are necessary for SMD. Our results, therefore, suggest that the posttranscriptional control of photosynthetic mRNA decay under stress conditions requires both 3' and 5' untranslated regions and correlates with differential polysome association.

Drought poses a serious threat to the sustainability of rice (Oryza sativa) yields in rain-fed agriculture. Here, we report the results of a functional genomics approach that identified a rice NAC (an acronym for NAM [No Apical Meristem], ATAF1-2, and CUC2 [Cup-Shaped Cotyledon]) domain gene, OsNAC10, which improved performance of transgenic rice plants under field drought conditions. Of the 140 OsNAC genes predicted in rice, 18 were identified to be induced by stress conditions. Phylogenic analysis of the 18 OsNAC genes revealed the presence of three subgroups with distinct signature motifs. A group of OsNAC genes were prescreened for enhanced stress tolerance when overexpressed in rice. OsNAC10, one of the effective members selected from prescreening, is expressed predominantly in roots and panicles and induced by drought, high salinity, and abscisic acid. Overexpression of OsNAC10 in rice under the control of the constitutive promoter GOS2 and the root-specific promoter RCc3 increased the plant tolerance to drought, high salinity, and low temperature at the vegetative stage. More importantly, the RCc3:OsNAC10 plants showed significantly enhanced drought tolerance at the reproductive stage, increasing grain yield by 25% to 42% and by 5% to 14% over controls in the field under drought and normal conditions, respectively. Grain yield of GOS2:OsNAC10 plants in the field, in contrast, remained similar to that of controls under both normal and drought conditions. These differences in performance under field drought conditions reflect the differences in expression of OsNAC10-dependent target genes in roots as well as in leaves of the two transgenic plants, as revealed by microarray analyses. Root diameter of the RCc3:OsNAC10 plants was thicker by 1.25-fold than that of the GOS2:OsNAC10 and nontransgenic plants due to the enlarged stele, cortex, and epidermis. Overall, our results demonstrated that root-specific overexpression of OsNAC10 enlarges roots, enhancing drought tolerance of transgenic plants, which increases grain yield significantly under field drought conditions.