Effects of OsRPK1 gene overexpression and RNAi on the salt-tolerance at seedling stage in rice

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OsRPK1 is a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinase (LRR-RLK) gene in rice, and its expression level decreases evidently after temporarily increasing under salt stress. Previous studies have shown that the overexpression of OsRPK1 can significantly reduce the abiotic stress tolerance of Arabidopsis. In this study, OsRPK1 gene was overexpressed and RNA interfered in rice. The salt tolerance of the 35S:OsRPK1 rice seedlings was significantly lower than that of the control plants. The OsRPK1-RNAi rice seedlings exhibited higher salt tolerance than the wild-type plants. The proline content of OsRPK1 overexpressed plants was lower than that of the wild type, MDA content and relative conductivity were significantly higher than those of the wild type, while the proline content of OsRPK1-RNAi rice plants was significantly higher than those of wild type, MDA content and relative conductivity were significantly lower than those of wild type. The results of this study indicate that OsRPK1 plays an important role in salt tolerance of rice. The changes of proline content and the damage degree of cytoplasmic membrane may be the internal reasons for the salt-tolerance variations of the transgenic rice lines. This study lays a foundation for further elucidating the resistance mechanism of OsRPK1 gene, which is very important for cultivating salt-tolerance rice by adjusting the expression of OsRPK1 gene.