View article

The Indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties Pokkali and Nona Bokra are well-known salt tolerance donors in classical breeding. In an attempt to understand the molecular basis of their tolerance, physiological and gene expression studies were initiated. The effect of abscisic acid (ABA) on total proteins in roots from 12-d-old seedlings of Pokkali, Nona Bokra, and the salt-sensitive cultivar Taichung N1 were analyzed on two-dimensional gels. The abundance of ABA-induced proteins was highest in the most tolerant variety, Pokkali. Three ABA-responsive proteins, present at different levels in roots from tolerant and sensitive varieties, were further characterized by partial amino acid analysis. A novel histidine-rich protein and two types of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins were identified. Protein immunoblotting revealed that the levels of dehydrins and group 3 LEA proteins were significantly higher in roots …