title: A novel rice calmodulin-like gene, OsMSR2, enhances drought and salt tolerance and increases ABA sensitivity in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Many abiotic stimuli, such as drought and salt stresses, elicit changes in intracellular calcium levels that serve to convey information and activate adaptive responses. Ca²⁺ signals are perceived by different Ca²⁺ sensors, and calmodulin (CaM) is one of the best-characterized Ca²⁺ sensors in eukaryotes. Calmodulin-like (CML) proteins also exist in plants, but their functions at the physiological and molecular levels are largely unknown. In this report, we present data on OsMSR2 (Oryza sativa L. Multi-Stress-Responsive gene 2), a novel calmodulin-like protein gene isolated from rice Pei'ai 64S (Oryza sativa L.). Expression of OsMSR2 was strongly up-regulated by a wide spectrum of stresses, including cold, drought, and heat in different tissues at different developmental stages of rice, as revealed by both microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR analyses. Analysis of the recombinant OsMSR2 protein demonstrated its potential ability to bind Ca²⁺ in vitro. Expression of OsMSR2 conferred enhanced tolerance to high salt and drought in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) accompanied by altered expression of stress/ABA-responsive genes. Transgenic plants also exhibited hypersensitivity to ABA during the seed germination and post-germination stages. The results suggest that expression of OsMSR2 modulated salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis through ABA-mediated pathways.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Agro-ecological Process in the Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan 410125, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Yun
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Pedro S C F
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Man-Ling
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Meng-Liang
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yan-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Luo-Ye
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu-Xing
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xinjie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003681:Dehydration / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D002147:Calmodulin; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D000040:Abscisic Acid