Dual Roles of RAD23b and RAD4 on the Desiccation Tolerance of Germinated Seeds

Desiccation tolerance (DT) is a survival trait enabling orthodox seeds to withstand extremely low water content. While some protective factors are characterised, it remains mechanistically obscure. Here, based on PEG-induced DT re-establishment in germinated Brassica napus L. seeds, we investigated the dual functions of nucleotide excision repair (NER) components RAD23b and RAD4 in DNA repair and transcriptional regulation of root development. PEG pre-treatment alleviated dehydration-induced DNA damage and activated NER genes, suggesting the involvement of NER in seed DT. Unexpectedly, Arabidopsis atrad23b mutant and BnRAD23b/BnRAD4 over-expressing seeds all exhibited significantly decreased DT after dry back, which evoked a hypothesis that BnRAD23b-BnRAD4 functions beyond NER. Normally, BnRAD4 interacted with BnRAD23b and repressed the expression of root development genes NAC103, EMB1444, RRA1 by directly binding to STRE elements within their promoters. Dehydration stress alleviated this repression, drove transcriptional reprogramming and might redirect the complex to execute DNA repair. Genetic analyses revealed that germinated seeds of atnac103, atemb1444, and atrra1 single mutants all exhibited reduced DT, and double mutants under atrad23b background almost abolished DT. This study suggests that RAD23b and RAD4 may regulate DT re-establishment of germinated seeds through balancing genome integrity and radicle development, with implications for DT study broadly.