Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Aquaporins are channel proteins that facilitate the passive
uptake and transport of water, ions, molecules and regulate
the water balance at the plant level. Genes for aquaporins
are important since they play a major role in water uptake.
The present study was therefore conducted to assess the
relationship of aquaporins predominantly expressed in
roots in response to drought tolerance. Transcript
abundance of five rice aquaporin genes (PIP2;5, PIP1;3,
PIP2;4, TIP2;1 and NIP2;1) in five rice genotypes (Banglami,
ARC 10372, Inglongkiri, Ranjit and IR 64) under well-watered
and drought stress conditions were measured using qRTPCR.
Significant variation in PIP relative transcript
abundance in roots was observed between varieties under
both well-watered and drought stress conditions. In roots,
the expression levels of most OsPIPs were found to be
increased in drought stress conditions.OsPIP1;3,OsPIP2;5,
OsTIP2;1 and OsNIP2;1 were upregulated more in upland
(drought tolerant) rice and Ranjit lowland (moderately
drought tolerant) genotypes than drought susceptible
lowland IR-64 rice in drought stress conditions and
downregulated/unchanged in well-irrigated conditions. The
OsPIP genes were identified as candidate genes based on
their high expression under drought stress situations and
played a significant role in water uptake and root
development under water stress conditions. A positive
correlation was observed between fold increase in
aquaporin expression and degree of drought tolerance
which suggest that these aquaporins genes might play an
important role in root development under water stress
situation to overcome stress.
Keywords: Aquaporins, gene expression, root traits, drought tolerance and rice
Year: 2020
Volume: 80
Issue: 1
Article DOI: 10.31742/IJGPB.80.1.6
Print ISSN: 0019-5200
Online ISSN: 0975-6906
Harendra Verma, Kamalakshmi Devi, Akhil Ranjan Baruah, Ramendra Nath Sarma info_circle
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