Identification of ABA-responsive genes in rice shoots via cDNA macroarray

Phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) was critical for many plant growth and developmental processes including seed maturation, germination and response to environmental factors. With the purpose to detect the possible ABA related signal transduction pathways, we tried to isolate ABA-regulated genes through cDNA macroarray technology using ABA-treated rice seedling as materials (under treatment for 2, 4, 8 and 12 h). Of 6144 cDNA clones tested, 37 differential clones showing induction or suppression for at least one time, were isolated. Of them 30 and 7 were up- or down-regulated respectively. Sequence analyses revealed that the putative encoded proteins were involved in different possible processes, including transcription, metabolism and resistance, photosynthesis, signal transduction, and seed maturation. 6 cDNA clones were found to encode proteins with unknown functions. Regulation by ABA of 7 selected clones relating to signal transduction or metabolism was confirmed by reverse transcription PCR. In addition, some clones were further shown to be regulated by other plant growth regulators including auxin and brassinosteroid, which, however, indicated the complicated interactions of plant hormones. Possible signal transduction pathways involved in ABA were discussed.