Summary: Despite the ubiquity and beneficial role of silicon (Si) in plant biology, structural and chemical mechanisms operating at the single‐cell level have not been extensively studied. To obtain insights regarding the effect of Si on individual cells, we cultivated suspended rice (Oryza sativa) cells in the absence and presence of Si and analyzed single cells using a combination of physical techniques including atomic force microscopy (AFM). Si is naturally present as a constituent of the cell walls, where it is firmly bound to the cell wall matrix rather than occurring within intra‐ or extracellular silica deposition, as determined by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This species of Si, linked with the cell wall matrix, improves the structural stability of cell walls during their expansion and subsequent cell division. Maintaining cell shape is thereby enhanced, which may be crucial for the function and survival of cells. This study provides further evidence that organosilicon is present in plant cell walls, which broadens our understanding of the chemical nature of ‘anomalous Si’ in plant biology.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops, feeding half of the world’s population. However, rice production is affected by cadmium (Cd) toxicity. Due to an increase in Cd-contaminated soil and rice grains, and the serious harm to human health from Cd, research on Cd uptake, transport and resistance in rice has been widely conducted, and many important advances have been made. Rice plants absorb Cd mainly from soil through roots, which is mediated by Cd absorption-related transporters, including OsNramp5, OsNramp1, OsCd1, OsZIP3, OsHIR1,OsIRT1 and OsIRT2. Cd uptake is affected by soil’s environmental factors, such as the concentrations of Cd and some other ions in soil, soil properties, and other factors can affect the bioavailability of Cd in soil. Then, Cd is transported within rice plants mediated by OsZIP6, OsZIP7, OsLCD, OsHMA2, CAL1, OsCCX2, OsLCT1 and OsMTP1, from roots to shoots and from shoots to grains. To resist Cd toxicity, rice has evolved many resistance strategies, including the deposition of Cd in cell walls, vacuolar Cd sequestration, Cd chelation, antioxidation and Cd efflux. In addition, some unresolved scientific questions surrounding Cd uptake, transport and resistance in rice are proposed for further study.

Since the first successful completion of genome‐based editing in the model plant Arabidopsis using CRISPR/Cas9 in 2013 (Jiang et al., 2013), a large number of agronomic trait‐related genes have been successfully edited in rice, including leaf color‐related genes OsYSA, CAO1, and OsPDS; rice quality‐related genes OsWaxy and OsBADH2; fertility‐related genes OsPMS3; and plant type‐related genes LZAY1 and OsIPA1 (Liu et al., 2017). However, most of the above reports are of one sgRNA mutation to a specific gene, and most of the mutation sites are selected in the gene coding region. In addition, some genes cannot adopt this strategy for editing CDS regions because of their specific functions. For example, the Xa13 gene is a pluripotent gene for recessive resistance to bacterial blight that regulates rice bacterial blight resistance and participates in anthers development.

Calcium‐dependent protein kinases (CPKs) are serine/threonine protein kinases that function in plant stress responses. Although CPKs are recognized as key messengers in signal transduction, the specific roles of CPKs and the molecular mechanisms underlying their activity remain largely unknown. Here, we characterized the function of OsCPK24, a cytosol‐localized calcium‐dependent protein kinase in rice. OsCPK24 was universally and highly expressed in rice plants and was induced by cold treatment. Whereas OsCPK24 knockdown plants exhibited increased sensitivity to cold compared to wild type (WT), OsCPK24‐overexpressing plants exhibited increased cold tolerance. Plants overexpressing OsCPK24 exhibited increased accumulation of proline (an osmoprotectant) and glutathione (an antioxidant) and maintained a higher GSH/GSSG (reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione) ratio during cold stress compared to WT. In addition to these effects in response to cold stress, we observed the kinase activity of OsCPK24 varied under different calcium concentrations. Further, OsCPK24 phosphorylated OsGrx10, a glutathione‐dependent thioltransferase, at rates modulated by changes in calcium concentration. Together, our results support the hypothesis that OsCPK24 functions as a positive regulator of cold stress tolerance in rice, a process mediated by calcium signaling and involving phosphorylation and the inhibition of OsGrx10 to sustain higher glutathione levels.