Integrated Lipidomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Lipid-Mediated Regulatory Networks Underlying Male Sterility in Rice

doi:10.1016/j.rsci.2026.05.007

Abstract

Han Cong, Miao Rong, Sun Yang, Jiang Shenlong, Zhang Peng, Hu Guocheng, Yan Qing, Muneeba Saleem, Hu Songping, Zhong Zhengzheng, Tong Hanhua. Integrated Lipidomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Lipid-Mediated Regulatory Networks Underlying Male Sterility in Rice[J]. Rice Science, 2026, 33(4): 425-430.

Figures/Tables 2

Fig. 1. Integrated lipidomic and transcriptomic analysis reveals genetic regulators of pollen sterility associated with fatty acid biosynthesis. A and B, Panicle morphology between wild type Nipponbare (NIP, A) and osps11mutant (B). Scale bars, 10 cm. C and D, Floret phenotypes of NIP (C) and osps11 (D) plants. Scale bars, 2 mm. E and F, Anther phenotypes of NIP (E) and osps11 (F) plants. Arrows indicate the sites of anther dehiscence. Scale bars, 1 mm. G and H, I2-KI staining of mature pollen grains of NIP (G) and osps11 (H). Scale bars, 50 μm. I and J, DAPI (4ʹ,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining of mature pollen grains of NIP (I) and osps11 (J). Arrows indicate nuclei. Scale bars, 10 μm. K, Pollen fertility and seed-setting rate of NIP and osps11 plants, as well as seed-setting rate in reciprocal crosses between NIP and osps11. Data represent mean ± SD (n = 6). **, P < 0.01 compared with NIP (Student’s t-test). L, Co-enriched Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways from transcriptomic and lipidomic datasets. M, Transcriptomic and lipidomic changes in glycerolipid and glycerophospholipid metabolism. Red text/background indicates upregulated genes, blue text/background indicates downregulated genes, and unboxed genes denote those not yet reported. Red boxes represent upregulated lipids, and blue boxes represent downregulated lipids. N, qRT-PCR expression patterns of OsEAT1, OsTDR, OsTIP2, and OsADF at anther developmental stages 7‒12 (S7‒S12). Ubiquitin gene was used as an internal control. Data are mean ± SD (n = 3). O and P, Changes in total lipid content (O) and glycerophospholipid content (P). Data are mean ± SD (n = 3). ns, Not significant; *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 compared with NIP (Student’s t-test). LPA, Lysophosphatidic acid; PA, Phosphatidic acid; MG, Monoglyceride; DG, Diglyceride; TG, Triglyceride; PG, phosphatidylglycerol; PE, Phosphatidylethanolamine; PC, Phosphatidylcholine; PS, Phosphatidylserine; PI, Phosphatidylinositol; LPC, Lysophosphatidylcholine; LPE, Lysophosphatidylethanolamine; LPG, Lysophosphatidylglycerol; LPI, Lysophosphatidylinositol; MGDG, Monogalactosyldiacylglycerol; DGDG, Digalactosyldiacylglycerol; CDP, Cytidine diphosphate diacylglycerol.

Fig. 2. Phenotypes and agronomic traits of wild type Zhonghua 11 (ZH11), knockout mutant (Cr-OsTDR), and complementation (Com-OsTDR) rice plants. A, Phenotypes of ZH11, Cr-OsTDR, and Com-OsTDR plants at maturity. Scale bars, 25 cm. B, Phenotypic comparison of plant height, tiller number per plant, heading date, and seed-setting rate. Data represent mean ± SD (n = 6). ns, Not significant; **, P < 0.01 compared with ZH11 (Student’s t-test). C, Mutation strategies for Cr-OsTDR genome and protein in transgenic plants. The red letter ‘A’ in genome sequences indicates inserted nucleotide and red letters in protein sequences represent altered amino acids produced after the reading frame shift. D‒F, Floret phenotypes (D), florets after removing the lemma and palea (E), and anther phenotypes (F) of ZH11, Cr-OsTDR, and Com-OsTDR. Scale bars are 5, 2, and 2 mm in D‒F, respectively. G, I2-KI staining of mature pollen grains of ZH11, Cr-OsTDR, and Com-OsTDR. Scale bars, 100 μm.

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