Fig. 7: The OsGATA7-SMOS1-OsGluA2 module represses protein synthesis and improves rice eating quality.

a IGV window showing the enrichment of SMOS1 at the OsGluA2 promoter, as determined by CUT&Tag analysis. Red arrows indicate significant peaks calculated by PePr. b Yeast one-hybrid assay showing that SMOS1 can bind to the OsGluA2 promoter. c, d Relative OsGluA2 expression levels in 10-DAF grains of ZH11 and osgata7-1 (c) and smos1-1 (d) mutants using RT−qPCR. e Dual-luciferase assay showing the transcriptional activation activity of SMOS1 toward OsGluA2 transcription in rice protoplasts. Relative luciferase activity was calculated as the ratio of firefly LUC-REN. f Diagram of the genotypes of Koshihikari with OsGluA2^LET, ZH210 with OsGluA2^HET, and two introgression lines IL-9 and IL-10 carrying OsGluA2^LET in the ZH210 background. Koshihikari and ZH210 were used as donor and recurrent parents, respectively. g Functional SNP sequencing associated with nucleotide diversity in Koshihikari, ZH210 and two introgression lines. h Grain appearance of ZH210, IL-9 and IL-10. i, j Protein content (i) and taste value (j) of ZH210, IL-9, and IL-10. k A proposed model for the interaction of OsGATA7 with SMOS1 to repress protein biosynthesis gene expression and improve taste quality. PRC2, polycomb repressive complex 2. n = 3 independent experiments in (c–e and i), n = 4 independent experiments in (j). Data are presented as the means ± SD, and P-values are indicated by a two-tailed Student’s t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.