title: OsPRP3, a flower specific proline-rich protein of rice, determines extracellular matrix structure of floral organs and its overexpression confers cold-tolerance.
abstract: Proline-rich protein (PRP), a cell wall protein of plant, has been studied in many plant species. Yet, none of the PRPs has been functionally elucidated. Here we report a novel flower-specific PRP designated OsPRP3 from rice. Expression analysis showed that the OsPRP3 transcript was mainly present in rice flower and accumulated abundantly during the late stage of the flower development. To study the function of OsPRP3, we constructed and transformed a binary vector containing a full clone of OsPRP3 in sense orientation and also an RNAi vector to achieve overexpression and knockout of the gene, respectively. Our overexpression plants showed a significant increase in cold tolerance than the WT plants which is conferred by the accumulation of OsPRP3 protein during cold treatment. Further the microscopic analysis revealed that OsPRP3 enhances the cell wall integrity in the cold tolerant plant and confers cold-tolerance in rice. Microscopic analysis of the RNAi mutant flower revealed that blocking OsPRP3 function caused significant defects in floral organogenesis. Taken together, the results suggested that OsPRP3 is a cell wall protein, playing a crucial role in determining extracellular matrix structure of floral organs.
authors.affiliation: School of Bio Sciences & Technology, VIT University, Vellore, 632 014, Tamil Nadu, India. gothandam@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Kodiveri Muthukalianan
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gothandam
authors.forename: Easwaran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nalini
authors.forename: Sivashanmugam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.forename: Jeong Sheop
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015151:Immunoblotting; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins