ABSTRACT: YUCCA (YUC) proteins have critical roles in plant growth and development through their involvement in auxin production. Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv Nipponbare) has 14 OsYUC proteins, but little is known regarding their functional redundancy. In this study, transgenic rice seedlings expressing GUS-tagged antisense-OsYUC2 under the control of the ubiquitin promoter were used to investigate the effects of OsYUC2 deficiency on seedling growth and development. GUS staining showed that

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... e-OsYUC2 was expressed primarily in rapidly dividing cells in callus, vegetative, and reproductive tissues. Phenotypic analysis showed that callus differentiation was compromised in OsYUC2 antisense rice. Adverse vegetative effects were observed in shoot height and embryonic, adventitious, and lateral root numbers. Reproductive tissues were also impacted, with reductions in panicle length, flower number, seed setting number, seed setting rate, and grain weight. Auxin analysis showed that indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) levels were reduced in OsYUC2 antisense rice, and exogenous addition of 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA, an analogue of IAA) partially rescued defective growth phenotypes. Taken together, these results indicated that deficiency of OsYUC2 impairs auxin biosynthesis, thereby affecting rice growth and development.