Integrative Biology Journals
JIPB

J Integr Plant Biol. ›› 2023, Vol. 65 ›› Issue (8): 1890-1903.DOI: 10.1111/jipb.13498  cstr: 32098.14.jipb.13498

Special Issue: Abiotic stress

• Abiotic Stress Responses • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Golgi-localized MORN1 promotes lipid droplet abundance and enhances tolerance to multiple stresses in Arabidopsis

Zhan Li1,2†, Yue Gao2†, Jiapei Yan2‡, Shuai Wang2ǂ, Shu Wang2⁑, Yuanyuan Liu1, Shaokui Wang1 and Jian Hua2*   

  1. 1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Breeding, State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro‐Bioresources, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510640, China;
    2. School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Biology Section, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
    †These authors have contributed equally to this work.
    ‡Current address: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
    ǂCurrent address: Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
    ⁑Current address: Jiangbei New Area Biopharmaceutical Public Service Platform Co., Ltd, Nanjing 210000, China
    *Correspondence: Jian Hua (jh299@cornell.edu)
  • Received:2022-12-16 Accepted:2023-04-24 Online:2023-04-25 Published:2023-08-01

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Abstract: Lipid droplet (LD) in vegetative tissues has recently been implicated in environmental responses in plants, but its regulation and its function in stress tolerance are not well understood. Here, we identified a Membrane Occupation and Recognition Nexus 1 (MORN1) gene as a contributor to natural variations of stress tolerance through genome-wide association study in Arabidopsis thaliana. Characterization of its loss-of-function mutant and natural variants revealed that the MORN1 gene is a positive regulator of plant growth, disease resistance, cold tolerance, and heat tolerance. The MORN1 protein is associated with the Golgi and is also partly associated with LD. Protein truncations that disrupt these associations abolished the biological function of the MORN1 protein. Furthermore, the MORN1 gene is a positive regulator of LD abundance, and its role in LD number regulation and stress tolerance is highly linked. Therefore, this study identifies MORN1 as a positive regulator of LD abundance and a contributor to natural variations of stress tolerance. It implicates a potential involvement of Golgi in LD biogenesis and strongly suggests a contribution of LD to diverse processes of plant growth and stress responses.

Key words: cold, Golgi, heat, immunity, lipid droplet, MORN1, natural variation, stress tolerance

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