Identification of Candidate Genes and Genome Engineering of Drought Tolerance in Bangladeshi Rice Varieties

Abstract

Drought is one of the majors constrains to the productivity of rice in many parts of the world, particularly in South and South East Asia. Among the natural disaster drought is a common phenomenon in different cropping season and it causes vulnerable yield loss of rice in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to identify candidate gene involves in the drought response mechanism of rice and to investigate suitable method for genome engineering for popular rice cultivars in Bangladesh. Dehydration responsive binding protein (DREB) is a group of transcription factor (cis-acting element) reported to be induced by abiotic stress and activate function/regulation of target genes involves to stress tolerance (drought, salt and freezing) mechanism in plants. Reverse transcription PCR analysis confirmed the presence of 14 genes of the OsDREBs gene family (including a new OsDREBlJ) in BR-29, BR-28, and BR-11 rice genome. Experiments were carried out to understand physiological response against drought stress in the studied rice cultivars. Beside the physiological parameters and molecular analysis were carried out from drought stressed, and well-watered plant tissues (reproductive organ). RT-PCR analysis was performed for three major tissues at reproductive stage of rice such as flag leaf, peduncle, and panicle. The results showed that interesting response to drought stress and response pattern varied across genotypes and tissues. Most of the gene expressed positively to the change of peduncle elongation rate, panicle exertion rate, and relative water content due to drought stress level……………