Receptor-like kinase OsSIK1 improves drought and salt stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa) plants

Abstract

SUMMARYReceptor-like kinases (RLKs) play essential roles in plant growth, development and responses to environmental stresses. A putative RLK gene, OsSIK1, with extracellular leucine-rich repeats was cloned and characterized in rice (Oryza sativa). OsSIK1 exhibits kinase activity in the presence of Mn 2+, and the OsSIK1 kinase domain has the ability to autophosphorylate and phosphorylate myelin basic protein (MBP). OsSIK1 promoter-GUS analysis revealed that OsSIK1 is expressed mainly in the stem and spikelet in rice. The expression of OsSIK1 is mainly induced by salt, drought and H 2 O 2 treatments. Transgenic rice plants with overexpression of OsSIK1 show higher tolerance to salt and drought stresses than control plants. On the contrary, the knock-out mutants sik1-1 and sik1-2, as well as RNA interference (RNAi) plants, are sensitive to drought and salt stresses. The activities of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase are enhanced significantly in OsSIK1-overexpressing plants. Also, the accumulation of H 2 O 2 in leaves of OsSIK1-overexpressing plants is much less than that of the mutants, RNAi plants and control plants, as measured by 3,3¢-diamino benzidine (DAB) staining. We also show that OsSIK1 affects stomatal density in the abaxial and adaxial leaf epidermis of rice. These results indicate that OsSIK1 plays important roles in salt and drought stress tolerance in rice, through the activation of the antioxidative system.

Genome-wide gene expression profiling of introgressed indica rice alleles associated with seedling cold tolerance improvement in a japonica rice background

“…DEGs on the introgressed regions of RM262 on chromosome 2, RM432 on chromosome 7, and RM38 on chromosome 8 were largely related to signal transduction cascades. These genes included genes encoding terpene synthase (Os02g36140, Os08g07100), protein phosphatase 2C (Os07g32380), and receptor-like kinase OsSIK1 (Os08g02996), which are known to be strongly associated with abiotic stress response [43,45,46]. Strikingly, a gene cluster containing four PCD-related genes were co-localized on the introgressed region of chromosome 11 (Additional file 17), indicating their distinct role in CT of K354.…”

AtSIA1, an ABC1-like kinase, regulates salt response in Arabidopsis

“…Moreover, OsSIK1, a receptor-like kinases (RLKs) overexpression in rice also showed higher tolerance to salt stresses compared with WT through the activation of its antioxidative system (Ouyang et al, 2010). Thus, the overexpression of 35S::AtSIA1 lines improve plant tolerance to high salinity, which may be due to the regulation of ROS balance.…”

“…Many naturally salt tolerant plants have been shown molecular, physiological, developmental and morphological characteristics of evolved adaptive mechanisms at multiple levels. Generally, as the earliest response regulatory genes, protein kinase plays a central role in the regulation of environmental adaptability (Ouyang et al 2010).…”

Role of Reactive Oxygen Species and Contribution of New Players in Defense Mechanism under Drought Stress in Rice

“…Overexpressed OsSIK1 rice plants showed tolerance to oxidative, drought and salt stress by inducing antioxidant system. It was observed that the activity of antioxidants enzymes like catalase, super-oxide dismutase and peroxidases was higher in overexpressed rice plants with subsequent lower level of H2O2 (Ouyang et al, 2010).…”