Abstract

Functional Genomics Approach to Identify Genes/Alleles for Important Agronomic Traits in Rice

Rajeshwari Ramanan, Senior Principal Scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

A rice AP2/ERF-type transcription factor, OsEREBP1 is a downstream component of a signal transduction pathway in a specific interaction between rice and Xoo. OsEREBP1 interacts with chloroplast localized isoform of Xb22, a component of rice stress response interactome and soluble modified GFP (SmGFP)-tagged OsEREBP1 was localized to plastid nucleoids. Over expression of OsEREBP1 in rice driven by maize ubiquitin promoter did not affect normal plant growth. Microarray analysis revealed that over expression of OsEREBP1 caused increased expression of lipid metabolism related genes such as lipase and chloroplastic lipoxygenase as well as several genes related to jasmonate and abscisic acid biosynthesis. PR genes, transcription regulators and Aldhs (alcohol dehydrogenases) implicated in abiotic stress and submergence tolerance were also upregulated in transgenic plants. Transgenic plants showed increase in endogenous levels of a-linolenate, several jasmonate derivatives and abscisic acid but not salicylic acid. Comparative analysis