Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) constitutes a pivotal transcription factor family that modulates plant growth and development as well as abiotic stress responses. Oat (Avena sativa L.) is an economically vital cereal crop and a major livestock forage globally. Nevertheless, the NF-Y gene family has not yet been systematically characterized in the oat genome. Here, we identified 36 AsNF-Y genes in the oat genome and categorized them into three distinct subfamilies (NF-YA, NF-YB, and NF-YC). Phylogeny, gene structure, duplication, collinearity, and conserved motif analyses revealed high evolutionary conservation of this gene family. Additionally, the identification of diverse cis-acting regulatory elements in the promoters of AsNF-Y genes, combined with their differential expression profiles under multiple abiotic stress conditions, indicated that AsNF-Ys serve as crucial regulators in modulating oat abiotic stress tolerance. Furthermore, preliminary functional validation via the TRV-VIGS system confirmed that two candidate genes, AsNF-YC02 and AsNF-YC06, may positively regulate salt tolerance in oat. Collectively, our findings deepen the understanding of NF-Y genes in gramineous crops and supply promising candidates for the genetic improvement of oat stress tolerance and molecular breeding.
Cailian Du, Yvkun Xue, Hao Wang et al.· Plants· 0 citations
Drought threatens global crop yields, and common oat, a vital nutritional source for food and feed, is particularly constrained in the semi‑arid regions where it is widely cultivated. Here, we report two high-quality genome assemblies for drought-resilient (Borris37) and drought-sensitive (XymC06) oat accessions with distinct seedling survival rates and genome sizes of 10.92 Gb and 10.96 Gb, and construct comprehensive landscapes of insertion‑deletions (InDels) and structural variants (SVs). Integrating population-level genomic, transcriptomic and phenotypic (seedling survival rate), we demonstrate that InDels and SVs underpin divergent drought resilience and identify 52 candidate genes associated with drought resistance whose expression is significantly modulated by these variants. Borris37 accumulates 36 favorable alleles of these genes. An InDel in the AsNF-YB3 promoter enhances binding to AsARF1, upregulating AsNF‑YB3 under drought, and overexpression of AsNF‑YB3 reduces ROS accumulation. Our findings provide resources and targets for drought‑resistance breeding in oat, thereby supporting global food security. Drought severely constrains common oat production. By generating genome assemblies for oat accessions with contrasting drought tolerance, the authors identify genetic variants and candidate genes underlying drought resistance, including an NF-Y transcription factor and its putative upstream regulator.
Shu-Hui Wang, Dong-Qing Liu, Ying-Ying Li et al.· Nature Communications· 0 citations
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