Functional role of rice germin-like protein1 in regulation of plant height and disease resistance

The functional role of rice (Oryza sativa) germin-like protein1 (OsGLP1) was elucidated through development of transgenic plants involving endogenous gene silencing in rice and heterologous gene expression in tobacco. Usually, the single copy OsGLP1 gene in rice plant was found to be expressed predominantly in green vegetative tissues. The transgenic rice lines showed significant reduction in endogenous OsGLP1 expression due to 26 nt siRNA-mediated gene silencing, displayed semi-dwarfism and were affected seriously by fungal diseases, compared to the untransformed plant. Structural homology modeling predicted a superoxide dismutase (SOD) domain in OsGLP1 protein which upon over-expression in transgenic tobacco plant clearly documented SOD activity. Our observations on the maintenance of cell dimension, cell wall-associated localization particularly in the sub-epidermal tissues and the SOD activity of OsGLP1 could explain its functional role in regulation of plant height and disease resistance in rice plant.