title: Transgenic rice expressing a cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) plasma membrane gene MePMP3-2 exhibits enhanced tolerance to salt and drought stresses.
abstract: Plasma membrane proteolipid 3 (PMP3) is a class of small hydrophobic proteins found in many organisms including higher plants. Some plant PMP3 genes have been shown to respond to abiotic stresses and to participate in the processes of plant stress tolerance. In this study, we isolated the cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) MePMP3-2 gene and functionally characterized its role in tolerance to abiotic stress by expressing it in rice (Oryza sativa L.). MePMP3-2 encodes a 77-amino acid protein belonging to a subgroup of plant PMP3s that have long hydrophylic C-terminal tails of unknown function. In silico analysis and co-localization studies indicated that MePMP3-2 is a plasma membrane protein with two transmembrane domains, similar to other PMP3s. In cassava leaves, MePMP3-2 expression was up-regulated by salt and drought stresses. Heterologous constitutive expression of MePMP3-2 in rice did not alter plant growth and development but increased tolerance to salt and drought stresses. In addition, under stress conditions MePMP3-2 transgenic plants accumulated less malondialdehyde, had increased levels of proline, and exhibited greater up-regulation of the stress-related genes OsProT and OsP5CS, but led to only minor changes in OsDREB2A and OsLEA3 expression. These findings indicate that MePMP3-2 may play an important role in salt and drought stress tolerance in transgenic rice.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: P S C F
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Zhengzhou Tobacco Research Institute of China National Tobacco Corporation, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: G Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Process in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: X J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D002365:Manihot / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000502:physiology; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011510:Proteolipids