Ethylene plays essential roles in rice growth, development and stress adaptation. Translational control of ethylene signaling remains unclear in rice. Here, through analysis of an ethylene-response mutant mhz9, we identified a glycine-tyrosine-phenylalanine (GYF) domain protein MHZ9, which positively regulates ethylene signaling at translational level in rice. MHZ9 is localized in RNA processing bodies. The C-terminal domain of MHZ9 interacts with OsEIN2, a central regulator of rice ethylene signaling, and the N-terminal domain directly binds to the OsEBF1/2 mRNAs for translational inhibition, allowing accumulation of transcription factor OsEIL1 to activate the downstream signaling. RNA-IP seq and CLIP-seq analyses reveal that MHZ9 associates with hundreds of RNAs. Ribo-seq analysis indicates that MHZ9 is required for the regulation of ~ 90% of genes translationally affected by ethylene. Our study identifies a translational regulator MHZ9, which mediates translational regulation of genes in response to ethylene, facilitating stress adaptation and trait improvement in rice.
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