中国科学院遗传与发育生物学研究所许操小组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们的研究发现冷诱导的肽信号确保花粉恢复力和作物产量。2026年6月3日出版的《自然》发表了这项成果。

在这里，小组确定了RGF-GLV-CLEL家族中的一个冷响应小信号肽子集，SlRGF9和SlRGF10，它们控制番茄花粉的抗寒性。SlRGF9和SlRGF10基因丧失功能后，番茄植株在正常条件下无缺陷，但冷胁迫后出现花粉败育现象。富含亮氨酸的重复受体样激酶，SlRGFR6和SlSERK蛋白，形成细胞表面受体复合物，与这些冷诱导的SlRGFs结合。

此外，SlRGF-SlRGFR6信号通过环核苷酸门控通道激活钙内流，抵消冷延迟的程序性细胞死亡，并确保绒毡层降解以支持小孢子发育。在番茄植株中上调SlRGF9和SlRGF10可防止高达52%的冷致产量损失。这种冷反应肽信号通路在双子叶和单子叶间是保守的。例如，水稻（Oryza sativa）中RGF同源物的上调提高了花粉的抗寒性，并恢复了18.3%的粮食产量损失。他们的发现揭示了控制花粉抗寒能力的核心肽信号轴，并具有保护作物生产力抵御寒冷胁迫的广泛潜力。

据悉，寒冷的天气造成严重的作物损失。气候变化加剧了这类天气事件的不可预测性和发生频率，凸显了对抗寒作物的需求。低温诱导的花粉败育和开花期间的生殖失败是产量损失的主要原因，但花粉发育中低温抗逆性的分子机制和信号通路尚不清楚。

附：英文原文

Title: Cold-induced peptide signalling secures pollen resilience and crop yield

Author: Chen, Shudong, Zou, Yupan, Cui, Huanshuo, Dong, Qingfeng, Yang, Dandan, Huang, Xiaozhen, Cheng, Shujing, Xin, Peiyong, Chu, Jinfang, Song, Wen, Xu, Cao

Issue&Volume: 2026-06-03

Abstract: Cold weather cause severe crop losses. Climate change exacerbates the unpredictability and frequency of such weather events, highlighting the need for cold-resilient crops1. Cold-induced pollen abortion and reproductive failure during flowering are major causes of yield losses2,3, yet the molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways that underlie cold resilience in pollen development remain unknown. Here we identify a subset of cold-responsive small signalling peptides in the RGF–GLV–CLEL family, SlRGF9 and SlRGF10, that control cold resilience in tomato pollen. After loss of function of SlRGF9 and SlRGF10, tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) showed no defects under normal conditions, but pollen abortion was observed after cold stress. The leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases, SlRGFR6 and SlSERK proteins, form cell-surface receptor complexes that bind to these cold-induced SlRGFs. Furthermore, SlRGF–SlRGFR6 signalling activates calcium influx through cyclic-nucleotide-gated channels, counteracting cold-delayed programmed cell death and ensuring tapetum degradation to support microspore development. Upregulating SlRGF9 and SlRGF10 in tomato plants prevents cold-induced yield losses by up to 52%. This cold-responsive peptide signalling pathway is conserved across dicots and monocots. For example, upregulation of RGF homologues in rice (Oryza sativa) boosts cold resilience in pollen and recovers 18.3% of grain yield loss. Our findings uncover a core peptide signalling axis that governs cold resilience in pollen and has broad potential for safeguarding crop productivity against cold stress.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10603-7

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10603-7

期刊信息

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504

官方网址：http://www.nature.com/

投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html