EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF OsPHD6 GENE IN RESPONSE TO SALINITY STRESS AND REHYDRATION IN RICE SEEDLINGS

Rice is one of the major staple crops for more than one third of the world’s population. However, its productivity is majorly affected by soil salinity worldwide. Several candidate genes for salinity tolerance have been identified but only few successes have been achieved in field. Salinity tolerance is multigenic traits and transcription factors can be a suitable candidate for developing tolerant plants, as it regulates many stress responsive genes. In past, several transcription factors such as MYB, bZIP and DREB families have been reported. Recently, we have reported genome wide analysis of Plant Homeo Domain (PHD) finger gene family in Oryza sativa Indica. In the present study, we performed the sequence analysis of OsPHD6 protein and its relationship with other plant species. Using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, its expression under different concentration of NaCl and rehydrated condition were analyzed. In comparison to control, the expression of OsPHD6 gene increased with the increase in concentration of NaCl treatment and decreased upon rehydration indicating that it may play important role under salinity stress. Thus, OsPHD6 gene, encoding PHD finger transcription factor, can be a suitable candidate for developing salinity tolerant rice.