Identification and characterization of a novel abiotic stress responsive ATPase gene from rice

Adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) belonging to the AAA protein family (ATPases Associated with various cellular Activities) are involved in a wide range of abiotic stress. OsATPase, is one of the gene among these stress genes. However, the knowledge about their roles in developmental processes and response to various stimuli are still very limited in rice. In order to discover new stress tolerance genes in rice (Oryza sativa L.), expression profiles were obtained for leaf and panicle tissues at seedling, booting and heading stages of indica cultivar Pei’ai 64S plants under cold, drought or heat stresses using the GeneChip Rice Genome Array (Affymetrix) representing 51, 279 transcripts from japonica and indica rice. OsATPase was highly expressed in leaves and panicles and in response to cold stress in seedlings and booting stage. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that the result was almost consensus with GeneChip Rice Genome Array, suggesting that OsATPase is a multiple stress responsive gene in rice. In order to study its function in stress tolerance, we cloned the cDNA of the gene through amplification by RT-PCR. Sequence analysis showed that the cDNA encodes a protein of 528 amino acid residues with M.W.≈60kD and pI≈7.8. Analysis of the putative promoter region for candidate cis-regulatory elements using Plant CARE software identified some cis-elements related to stress responses. Based on the earlier mentioned analysis and results obtained, we propose that OsATPase is a novel candidate gene involved in stress tolerance in rice.