文摘
The small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are most prevalent in plants and are believed to play an important role in stress tolerance. Our microarray and qRT-PCR analyses of rice plants showed that the gene Oryza sativa Multi-Stress-Responsive 4 (OsMSR-4) is induced by heat, drought, and cold in different tissues at various developmental stages. OsMSR-4 encodes a Class III sHSP. Its expression in Arabidopsis thaliana conferred enhanced tolerance to drought accompanied by altered expression of other stress-related genes. Under drought conditions, levels of free proline were higher in transgenic plants than in the wild-type. The transgenics also showed decreased sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA) during the seed germination and post-germination stages. Our study provides evidence that OsMSR4 has a key role in regulating plant responses to ABA and drought.