TRANSIENT EXPRESSION OF MULTIPLE GENES IN SALINITY-STRESSED YOUNG SEEDLINGS OF RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA L) CV BURA-RATA

To date only about 15 abundantly expressed osmoresponsive genes/protei ns have been described in rice cultivars. Using in vivo radiolabeling followed by two-dimensional electrophoresis and autoradiography, a rec ord number of at least 35 salinity stress-induced polypeptides (14-90 kDa) and 17 salt stress-repressed polypeptides were detected in a halo tolerant Indica rice cultivar Bura Rata. These include >20 hitherto un reported rice polypeptides that exhibited a low abundance, short-term expression during NaCl stress. Prolonged exposure to NaCl decreased th eir synthesis. These findings have widened the scope of further invest igations into new osmoresponsive genes, especially those with possibly transient regulatory functions in rice halotolerance. (C) 1997 Academ ic Press.