Expression of a gene encoding a rice RING zinc-finger protein, OsRZFP34, enhances stomata opening.

By oligo microarray expression profiling, we identified a rice RING zinc-finger protein (RZFP), OsRZFP34, whose gene expression increased with high temperature or abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. As compared with the wild type, rice and Arabidopsis with OsRZFP34 overexpression showed increased relative stomata opening even with ABA treatment. Furthermore, loss-of-function mutation of OsRZFP34 and AtRZFP34 (At5g22920), an OsRZFP34 homolog in Arabidopsis, decreased relative stomata aperture under nonstress control conditions.