Rice PML3 knockout study links Golgi manganese disruption to changes in young tissues

Disrupting the Golgi-localized manganese transporter PML3 in rice was associated with extensive changes in gene expression, leaf sugar composition and protein glycosylation in young tissues grown under manganese-deficient conditions, according to the study abstract. The work compared wild-type rice with single-knockout pml3 lines and used physiological, transcriptomic and N-glycoproteomic analyses; it was a plant knockout study rather than a review, protocol, simulation or clinical investigation.

In root tips, the pml3 lines had a substantial number of differentially expressed genes relative to wild type under manganese deficiency. Genes whose expression increased were significantly enriched in polysaccharide metabolism and hormone regulatory processes, while genes whose expression decreased were mainly associated with photosynthesis and cellular detoxification pathways. These enrichment results identify processes associated with the knockout response, but the abstract does not establish that every enriched pathway was functionally impaired or that the responses were more pronounced in one tissue than another.

In young leaves, upregulated genes were significantly enriched in N-glycan biosynthesis and polysaccharide binding, whereas downregulated genes were linked to plant-pathogen interaction and cell-wall organization and biogenesis. Physiological measurements showed that the amounts of mannose and galacturonic acid were significantly altered in young leaves of the pml3 lines compared with wild type under manganese-deficient conditions. N-glycoproteomic profiling further indicated that disruption of Golgi manganese homeostasis was associated with an accumulation of complex-type N-glycans in young leaves.

The results support a role for PML3-mediated Golgi manganese homeostasis in gene-expression, sugar-composition and protein-glycosylation changes in young rice tissues under manganese deficiency. The available evidence is an abstract from an open-access BMC Plant Biology article published online on 22 September 2026 as an accepted version subject to further edits. Because the abstract does not report experimental replicates, detailed statistical analyses, full methods, growth or yield measurements, or the complete results, those aspects cannot be assessed from the supplied evidence. The study’s scope is limited to young rice tissues, wild-type plants, pml3 single-knockout lines and manganese-deficient conditions, so the findings do not by themselves establish effects across other rice life stages or agricultural outcomes.

Subject of Research: Effects of Golgi manganese transporter PML3 disruption on molecular responses in young rice tissues under manganese deficiency

Article Title: Multi-omics and physiological analyses provide insights into the mechanism of Golgi manganese homeostasis in regulating the development of young tissues in rice

Article References: Xu, E., Jiang, S., Zhou, K., Ni, J., Zhan, X., Zhang, P., Chen, X., & Zou, Y. (2026). Multi-omics and physiological analyses provide insights into the mechanism of Golgi manganese homeostasis in regulating the development of young tissues in rice. BMC Plant Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-09997-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-09997-3

Keywords: rice, PML3, manganese deficiency, Golgi homeostasis, transcriptomics, N-glycoproteomics, young leaves, root tips, N-glycans, gene expression, Multi-omics, physiological