title: Ectopic expression of PgRab7 in rice plants (Oryza sativa L.) results in differential tolerance at the vegetative and seed setting stage during salinity and drought stress.
abstract: In this work, we have overexpressed a vesicle trafficking protein, Rab7, from a stress-tolerant plant, Pennisetum glaucum, in a high-yielding but stress-sensitive rice variety Pusa Basmati-1 (PB-1). The transgenic rice plants were tested for tolerance against salinity and drought stress. The transgenic plants showed considerable tolerance at the vegetative stage against both salinity (200 mM NaCl) and drought stress (up to 12 days after withdrawing water). The protection against salt and drought stress may be by regulating Na+ion homeostasis, as the transgenic plants showed altered expression of multiple transporter genes, including OsNHX1, OsNHX2, OsSOS1, OsVHA, and OsGLRs. In addition, decreased generation and maintenance of lesser reactive oxygen species (ROS), with maintenance of chloroplast grana and photosynthetic machinery was observed. When evaluated for reproductive growth, 89-96 % of seed setting was maintained in transgenic plants during drought stress; however, under salt stress, a 33-53 % decrease in seed setting was observed. These results indicate that PgRab7 overexpression in rice confers differential tolerance at the seed setting stage during salinity and drought stress and could be a favored target for raising drought-tolerant crops.
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India. mktripathy@gmail.com.|Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. mktripathy@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Manas Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tripathy
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India.
authors.forename: Budhi Sagar
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.
authors.forename: Malireddy K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India.
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deswal
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India. sopory@icgeb.res.in.|Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India. sopory@icgeb.res.in.
authors.forename: Sudhir K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sopory
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D000066630:Ectopic Gene Expression; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D012275:Oryza / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D031782:Pennisetum / Q000378:metabolism*; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D054712:Salinity; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012639:Seeds / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012964:Sodium; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide
keywords: Drought; Membrane trafficking; PgRab7; Rice; Salinity