title: OsGRAS23, a rice GRAS transcription factor gene, is involved in drought stress response through regulating expression of stress-responsive genes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drought is a major abiotic stress factors that reduces agricultural productivity. GRAS transcription factors are plant-specific proteins that play diverse roles in plant development. However, the functions of a number of GRAS genes identified in rice are unknown, especially the GRAS genes related to rice drought resistance have not been characterized.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, a novel GRAS transcription factor gene named OsGRAS23, which is located in a drought-resistant QTL interval on chromosome 4 of rice, was isolated. The expression of OsGRAS23 was induced by drought, NaCl, and jasmonic acid treatments. The OsGRAS23-GFP fused protein was localized in the nucleus of tobacco epidermal cells. A trans-activation assay in yeast cells demonstrated that the OsGRAS23 protein possessed a strong transcriptional activation activity. OsGRAS23-overexpressing rice plants showed improved drought resistance and oxidative stress tolerance as well as less H2O2 accumulation compared with the wild-type plants. Furthermore, microarray analysis showed that several anti-oxidation related genes were up-regulated in the OsGRAS23-overexpressing rice plants. The yeast one hybrid test indicated that OsGRAS23 could bind to the promoters of its potential target genes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that OsGRAS23 encodes a stress-responsive GRAS transcription factor and positively modulates rice drought tolerance via the induction of a number of stress-responsive genes.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. kxu@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. csj08@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Shoujun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. ltf@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Tianfei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. mxs09@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. lxh@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. dxf07@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. lhy@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, 201106, China. lijun@sagc.org.cn.|Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, 430070, China. lijun@sagc.org.cn.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors