Low temperature-responsive changes in the anther transcriptome's repeat sequences are indicative of stress sensitivity and pollen sterility in rice strains.

Genome-wide transcriptome analyses using microarray probes containing genes and repeat sequences have been performed to examine responses to low temperatures in rice (Oryza sativa). We focused particularly on the rice anther at the booting stage, because a low temperature at this stage can result in pollen abortion. The five rice strains examined in this study showed different pollen fertilities due to a low-temperature treatment during the booting stage. The microarray analyses demonstrated that the low-temperature stress caused genome-wide changes in the transcriptional activities not only of genes but also of repeat sequences in the rice anther. The degree of the temperature-responsive changes varied among the five rice strains. Interestingly, the low-temperature-sensitive strains revealed more changes in the transcriptome when compared with the tolerant strains. The expression patterns of the repeat sequences, including miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements, transposons, and retrotransposons, were correlated with the pollen fertilities of the five strains, with the highest correlation coefficient being 0.979. Even in the low-temperature-sensitive strains, the transcriptomes displayed distinct expression patterns. The elements responding to the low temperatures were evenly distributed throughout the genome, and the major cis-motifs involved in temperature-responsive changes were undetectable from the upstream sequences in the corresponding repeats. The genome-wide responses of transcription to the temperature shift may be associated with chromatin dynamics, which facilitates environmental plasticity. A genome-wide analysis using repeat sequences suggested that stress tolerance could be conferred by insensitivity to the stimuli.