Transcriptome analysis to uncover potential roles of a barley ASR gene in stress tolerance

Whole genome microarray expression profiling was used to identify potential downstream targets and understand cellular processes regulated by a plant ASR protein, particularly HvASR5 from barley, involved in abiotic stress tolerance in cereals. When expressed ectopically, HvASR5 is able to improve growth performance of rice plants under stress conditions. For this experiment, leaf samples from transgenic rice lines overexpressing HvASR5 were compared to wild-type plants. HvASR5 can up-regulate the expression of a distinct set of genes associated with stress responses, metabolic processes, as well as reproduction and development. Two transgenic rice lines showing different transgene expression levels and wild-type rice (Oryza sativa L., cv. Tainung 67) grown under control conditions were chosen for the trancriptome analysis. Total RNA was extracted from leaves and three biological replicates for each transgenic line and WT were considered for the experiment.