Characterization of a rice class II metallothionein gene: Tissue expression patterns and induction in response to abiotic factors

Data mining the complete rice genome sequences revealed a genomic fragment encoding a characteristic metallothionein (MT) protein, and its full-length cDNA was isolated from rice developing seeds by RT-PCR. This cDNA, designated OsMT-II-1a, contains an open reading frame of 264 bp encoding a protein of 87 amino acid residues. The predicted amino acid sequence was shown to have structural features characteristic of plant class II MT proteins. By sequence analysis of its 5′-flanking region, one putative TATA box, four putative CAAT boxes, and several short sequences homologous to previously reported regulatory cis-elements were identified. Northern blot analysis showed that accumulation of OsMT-II-1a mRNA is specifically abundant in developing seeds and 2-day glumes after pollination, and OsMT-II-1a transcription can markedly be induced by H2O2, paraquat, SNP, ethephon, ABA and SA, but barely by metal ions or other exogenous abiotic factors such as low temperature and PEG. These results coincide with the prediction of existing regulatory cis-elements in its 5′-flanking region. Taken together, the above results suggest that the processes of pollination and seed development might be mediated, at least in part, by expression of the OsMT-II-1a gene that is regulated by several abiotic factors.