Effect of Salinity
Stress on expression of aquaporin (PIP 1) gene in Pokkali Vytilla V-8 (Oryza sativa
L.): A comparative study
M. Harish, V. Salna Fathima, Raveendran Roshni, D.C. Deepthi and Nair Sethulekshmy
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 21(2); 293-297;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/212rjbt2930297; (2026)
Abstract
Rice is one of the most cultivated food crops worldwide, especially in various parts
of Asia. A major decline in the production of rice has been reported in different
parts of the continent recently. This is in turn reflected in global food security.
Rice cultivation has been in threat due to leading abiotic stresses like salinity,
drought, temperature etc. Therefore, stress tolerance by plants is a very important
feature to be investigated. Aquaporin, a transmembrane protein in plant cells, guides
water transport in various tissues and forms water channels. Aquaporin subfamilies
can be found as different isoforms in plants and their selective expression depends
on the type of plant and several other factors. It has been reported that Aquaporin
plays a key role in providing stress tolerance to the plants. This study chooses
six different varieties of Oryza sativa (Jyothy, Jaya, Harsha, Matta Triveni, Vyttila
V-8 and Vaishak) cultivated under salinity stress of different concentrations (50,100
and 150-Mm NaCl).
The relative expression of the aquaporin gene in each of them was studied. The salt
tolerant variety was analyzed based on the expression profiling data. This study
reports that the expression of aquaporin is upregulated in a salt-tolerant varieties
grown in Kerala like Pokkali Vyttila V-8. Further structure-function analysis is
warranted for establishing the behaviour of AQP gene in different varieties of Oryza
sativa at varying concentrations.
