Ectopic Expression of , a Member of the OsDREB1 Subfamily, Confers Cold Stress Tolerance in Rice.

Plants adapt to adverse environmental conditions through physiological responses, such as induction of the abscisic acid signaling pathway, stomatal regulation, and root elongation. Altered gene expression is a major molecular response to adverse environmental conditions in plants. Several transcription factors function as master switches to induce the expression of stress-tolerance genes. To find out a master regulator for the cold stress tolerance in rice, we focused on functionally identifying DREB subfamily which plays important roles in cold stress tolerance of plants. Here, we characterized (), a functionally unidentified member of the subgroup. is specifically induced under cold stress conditions among several abiotic stresses examined. This gene is dominantly expressed in leaf sheath, blade, node, and root. Transgenic rice overexpressing this gene exhibited strong cold tolerance and growth retardation, like transgenic rice overexpressing other genes. However, unlike these rice lines, transgenic rice overexpressing did not exhibit significant increases in drought or salt tolerance. Cold-responsive genes were highly induced in transgenic rice overexpressing compared to wild type. In addition, overexpression directly induced the expression of a reporter gene fused to the promoters of cold-induced genes in rice protoplasts. Therefore, OsDREB1G is a typical CBF/DREB1 transcription factor that specifically functions in the cold stress response. Therefore, could be useful for developing transgenic rice with enhanced cold-stress tolerance.