Differential gene expression in salt-tolerant rice mutant and its parental variety

The differential expressions of three genes rbcL, salT and rab!6 in response to ABA, NaCl, PEG and heat shock were investigated in seedlings of a salt-tolerant rice mutant 20 (mutant 20) and its parental variety Oryza sativa var. japonica 77-170(170). By Northern blot analysis it was found that ABA induced the expression of all three genes of rbcL, salT and rab16 in shoots and roots of both 170 and mutant 20 with the exceptions of rab16 in shoots of mutant 20 and rbcL in roots of 170. Lower concentrations of NaCl induced rbcL expression in shoots of mutant 20 but not 170. Higher concentrations of NaCl decreased rbcL expression but induced expressions of salT and rab16 in shoots of both 170 and mutant 20. PEG(15%) and 37℃ heat shock showed almost no effects on the expression of the three genes in mutant 20. However, they caused a decrease in rbcL expression and slight induction of the rab16 gene in 170, with salT expression unaffected. These results indicated that mutant 20 was relatively less responsive to applied hormonal and environmental factors as compared with 170, suggesting that mutant 20 might have acquired mechanisms by which the plant is less responsive to environmental stresses and hence gain a stronger ability to tolerate stresses.