DPB3-1 from Arabidopsis Enhances Heat Stress Tolerance without Growth Retardation in Rice

Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science and the University of Tokyo in Japan recently proved that DPB3-1, a transcriptional regulator from Arabidopsis, can enhance heat stress tolerance without any negative effects on growth.

Recent studies with Arabidopsis and rice indicate that DPB3-1 and its rice homolog, OsDPB3-2, function as positive regulators of Dehydration-responsive element binding protein (DREB2A), which in turn enhance the plants.

The team overexpressed DPB3-1 in transgenic rice and showed enhanced heat stress tolerance. The transgenics also did not affect plant growth or yield in rice under both normal and stress conditions. Microarray analysis revealed that many heat stress-inducible genes were upregulated in DPB3-1-overexpressing rice under heat stress conditions, confirming the effect of DPB3-1 on DREB2A.

These results show that DPB3-1 functions specifically under abiotic stress conditions, and could be utilized to increase heat stress tolerance in crops without negative effects on growth.

To learn more on the study, read the full article on Plant Biotechnology Journal.