OsMYB45 plays an important role in rice resistance to cadmium stress

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic heavy metal elements in nature, and it causes serious damage to plant cells. Here, we report that a transcription factor OsMYB45 is involved in Cd stress response in rice. OsMYB45 is highly expressed in rice leaves, husks, stamens, pistils, and lateral roots, and its expression is induced by Cd stress. OsMYB45 fused to green fluorescent protein localized to the cell nucleus in onion epidermal cells. Mutation of OsMYB45 resulted in hypersensitivity to Cd treatment, and the concentration of H2O2 in the leaves of mutant nearly doubled, while catalase (CAT) activity was halved compared with the wild-type. Moreover, gene expression analysis indicated that OsCATA and OsCATC expression is significantly lower in the mutant than in the wild-type. In addition, overexpression of OsMYB45 in the mutant complemented the mutant phenotype. Taken together, OsMYB45 plays an important role in tolerance to Cd stress in rice.