A rice calcium-dependent protein kinase OsCPK9 positively regulates drought stress tolerance and spikelet fertility

作者：Wei Shuya; Hu Wei; Deng Xiaomin; Zhang Yingying; Liu Xiaodong; Zhao Xudong; Luo Qingchen; Jin Zhengyi; Li Yin; Zhou Shiyi; Sun Tao; Wang Lianzhe; Yang Guangxiao^*; He Guangyuan

来源：BMC Plant Biology, 2014, 14(1): 133.

DOI：10.1186/1471-2229-14-133

• Abscisic acid (ABA) signaling
• Abiotic stresses
• Calcium-dependent protein kinase (CDPK)
• Drought stress tolerance
• Rice
• Spikelet fertility

Background: In plants, calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are involved in tolerance to abiotic stresses and in plant seed development. However, the functions of only a few rice CDPKs have been clarified. At present, it is unclear whether CDPKs also play a role in regulating spikelet fertility.
Results: We cloned and characterized the rice CDPK gene, OsCPK9. OsCPK9 transcription was induced by abscisic acid (ABA), PEG6000, and NaCl treatments. The results of OsCPK9 overexpression (OsCPK9-OX) and OsCPK9 RNA interference (OsCPK9-RNAi) analyses revealed that OsCPK9 plays a positive role in drought stress tolerance and spikelet fertility. Physiological analyses revealed that OsCPK9 improves drought stress tolerance by enhancing stomatal closure and by improving the osmotic adjustment ability of the plant. It also improves pollen viability, thereby increasing spikelet fertility. In OsCPK9-OX plants, shoot and root elongation showed enhanced sensitivity to ABA, compared with that of wild-type. Overexpression and RNA interference of OsCPK9 affected the transcript levels of ABA- and stress-responsive genes.
Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that OsCPK9 is a positive regulator of abiotic stress tolerance, spikelet fertility, and ABA sensitivity.

• 出版日期2014-5-17
• 单位华中科技大学