Cytosolic glutathione reductase (OsGR2) regulates plant development and salt stress tolerance in rice

Rice genome contains three genes that encode for glutathione reductase (GR) viz., OsGR1, 2 and 3. GR is an important component of the anti-oxidative machinery of plant cells. GR2 down-regulated plants were produced by RNAi mediated down-regulation of GR2 (GR2-Ri). GR2-Ri plants were significantly smaller and have significantly lower grain yield (grain number per panicle) compared to WT(Wild type), under control conditions. RNA-Seq analysis of panicles (differentiation stage) identified genes known to affect grain size to be differentially regulated in GR2-Ri compared to WT, respectively, under control conditions.