Chloroplast development at low temperature requires the pseudouridine synthase gene TCD3 in rice

Low temperature affects a broad spectrum of cellular components in plants, such as chloroplasts, as well as plant metabolism. On the other hand, pseudouridine (Ψ) synthases are required for the most abundant post-transcriptional modification of RNA in Escherichia coli. However, the role of rice Ψ synthases in regulating chloroplast development at low temperature remains elusive. In this study, we identified the rice thermo-sensitive chlorophyll-deficient (tcd3) mutant, which displays an albino phenotype before the 4-leaf stage and ultimately dies when grown at 20 °C, but can grow normally at 32 °C. Genetic analysis showed that the mutant trait is controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene (tcd3). Map-based cloning, complementation and knockout tests revealed that TCD3 encodes a chloroplast-localized Ψ synthase. TCD3 is a cold-induced gene that is mainly expressed in leaves. The disruption of TCD3 severely affected the transcript levels of various chloroplast-associated genes, as well as ribosomal genes involved in chloroplast rRNA assembly at low temperature (20 °C), whereas the transcript levels of these genes were normal at high temperature (32 °C). These results provide a first glimpse into the importance of rice Ψ synthase gene in chloroplast development at low temperatures.