摘要
We used the promoter trap technique to identify a rice plant, named 107^#, in which the β-glucuronidase （GUS） reporter gene was expressed specifically in the endosperm. A single copy of the T-DNA was inserted into the plant genome, and a candidate gene OsRRM was identified by the insertion. The OsRRM promoter directed GUS expression specifically in rice endosperm, analogous to the GUS expression pattern observed in 107^#. OsRRMis a single-copy gene in rice and encodes a nuclear protein containing 1 005 amino-acid residues with two RNA recognition motifs and one Spen paralog and ortholog C-terminal domain. Westem blot analysis confirmed that the OsRRM protein was specifically expressed in rice endosperm. Ectopic expression of OsRRM in transgenic plants led to abnormalities, such as short stature, retarded growth and low fructification rates. Our data, in conjunction with the reported function of Spen genes, implicated OsRRM in the regulation of cell development in rice endosperm.
基金
Acknowledgments We are grateful to Qiao-quan Liu for technical assistance. We also thank Lin-sheng An for planting the transgenic plants. This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China （No. 2006AA 10A 102 and No. 2005CB 120803） and the National Natural Science Foundation of China （No. 30671112）.
