OsbZIP62/OsFD7, a functional ortholog of FLOWERING LOCUS D, regulates floral transition and panicle development in rice.

We have characterized a rice bZIP protein-coding gene OsbZIP62/OsFD7 that is expressed preferentially in the shoot apical meristem and during early panicle developmental stages in comparison with other OsFD genes characterized to date. Surprisingly, unlike OsFD1, OsFD7 interacts directly and more efficiently with OsFTLs; the interaction is strongest with OsFTL1 followed by Hd3a and RFT1, as confirmed by fluorescence lifetime imaging-Förster resonant energy transfer (FLIM-FRET) analysis. In addition, OsFD7 is phosphorylated at its C-terminal end by OsCDPK41 and OsCDPK49 in vitro, and this phosphorylated moiety is recognized by OsGF14 proteins.

Expression dynamics of metabolic and regulatory components across stages of panicle and seed development in indica rice.

Carefully analyzed expression profiles can serve as a valuable reference for deciphering gene functions. We exploited the potential of whole genome microarrays to measure the spatial and temporal expression profiles of rice genes in 19 stages of vegetative and reproductive development. We could verify expression of 22,980 genes in at least one of the tissues.

Carotenoid biosynthesis genes in rice: structural analysis, genome-wide expression profiling and phylogenetic analysis.

Carotenoids, important lipid-soluble antioxidants in photosynthetic tissues, are known to be completely absent in rice endosperm. Many studies, involving transgenic manipulations of carotenoid biosynthesis genes, have been performed to get carotenoid-enriched rice grain. Study of genes involved in their biosynthesis can provide further information regarding the abundance/absence of carotenoids in different tissues.

Genome-wide identification, organization and phylogenetic analysis of Dicer-like, Argonaute and RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase gene families and their expression analysis during reproductive development and stress in rice.

Background: Important developmental processes in both plants and animals are partly regulated by genes whose expression is modulated at the post-transcriptional level by processes such as RNA interference (RNAi). Dicers, Argonautes and RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RDR) form the core components that facilitate gene silencing and have been implicated in the initiation and maintenance of the trigger RNA molecules, central to process of RNAi. Investigations in eukaryotes have revealed that these proteins are encoded by variable number of genes with plants showing relatively higher number in each gene family.

Genomic survey and gene expression analysis of the basic leucine zipper transcription factor family in rice.

The basic leucine (Leu) zipper (bZIP) proteins compose a family of transcriptional regulators present exclusively in eukaryotes. The bZIP proteins characteristically harbor a bZIP domain composed of two structural features: a DNA-binding basic region and the Leu zipper dimerization region. They have been shown to regulate diverse plant-specific phenomena, including seed maturation and germination, floral induction and development, and photomorphogenesis, and are also involved in stress and hormone signaling.

F-box proteins in rice. Genome-wide analysis, classification, temporal and spatial gene expression during panicle and seed development, and regulation by light and abiotic stress.

F-box proteins constitute a large family in eukaryotes and are characterized by a conserved F-box motif (approximately 40 amino acids). As components of the Skp1p-cullin-F-box complex, F-box proteins are critical for the controlled degradation of cellular proteins. We have identified 687 potential F-box proteins in rice (Oryza sativa), the model monocotyledonous plant, by a reiterative database search.

Validation of housekeeping genes as internal control for studying gene expression in rice by quantitative real-time PCR.

For accurate and reliable gene expression results, normalization of real-time PCR data is required against a control gene, which displays highly uniform expression in living organisms during various phases of development and under different environmental conditions. We assessed the gene expression of 10 frequently used housekeeping genes, including 18S rRNA, 25S rRNA, UBC, UBQ5, UBQ10, ACT11, GAPDH, eEF-1alpha, eIF-4a, and beta-TUB, in a diverse set of 25 rice samples. Their expression varied considerably in different tissue samples analyzed.