A novel gene IBF1 is required for the inhibition of brown pigment deposition in rice hull furrows

The role of flavonoids as the major red, blue, purple and brown pigments in plants has gained these secondary products a great deal of attention over the years. In this study, we characterized a rice inhibitor for brown furrows1 (ibf1) mutant. In the ibf1 mutant, brown pigments specifically accumulate in hull furrows during seed maturation and reach a maximum level in dry seeds. Higher amounts of total flavonoids and anthocyanin in hull may be responsible for the brown pigmentation of ibf1. The IBF1 gene, which encodes a similar kelch repeat-containing F-box protein, was isolated by map-based cloning approach. Real-time RT-PCR and GUS activity assays revealed that IBF1 specifically expressed in reproductive tissues. GFP-IBF1 fusion protein mainly localized in cytoplasm. The expression of some major structural enzymatic genes involved in flavonoids biosynthesis could be up- or down-regulated to some different extent in ibf1 mutant. Our data suggested that IBF1 as a suppressor could inhibit the brown pigmentation of rice hull furrows.