Rice OsDOF15 contributes to ethylene-inhibited primary root elongation under salt stress

In early seedlings, the primary root adapts rapidly to environmental changes through the modulation of endogenous hormone levels. The phytohormone ethylene inhibits primary root elongation, but the underlying molecular mechanism of how ethylene-reduced root growth is modulated in environmental changes remains poorly understood. Here, we show that a novel rice (Oryza sativa) DOF transcription factor OsDOF15 positively regulates primary root elongation by regulating cell proliferation in the root meristem, via restricting ethylene biosynthesis. Loss-of-function of OsDOF15 impaired primary root elongation and cell proliferation in the root meristem, whereas OsDOF15 overexpression enhanced these processes, indicating that OsDOF15 is a key regulator of primary root elongation. This regulation involves the direct interaction of OsDOF15 with the promoter of OsACS1, resulting in the repression of ethylene biosynthesis. The control of ethylene biosynthesis by OsDOF15 in turn regulates cell proliferation in the root meristem. OsDOF15 transcription is repressed by salt stress, and OsDOF15-mediated ethylene biosynthesis plays a role in inhibition of primary root elongation by salt stress. Thus, our data reveal how the ethylene-inhibited primary root elongation is finely controlled by OsDOF15 in response to environmental signal, a novel mechanism of plants responding to salt stress and transmitting the information to ethylene biosynthesis to restrict root elongation.