Abstract
BTF3, initially identified as a basal transcription factor, has been recognized to be involved in plant growth and
development. But, its function remains mostly unknown in abiotic stress regulation in plants. The present study describes salt
stress and phytohormones induced changes in cell homeostasis and different variants of basal transcription factor (BTF3) in
root and shoot of rice using FT-IR and semi-quantitive PCR approaches. Both phytohormone ABA (5 and 10 µM), GA3 (50
and 100µM) and salt stress (50 and 100mM) did not induce any significant decrease in germination. However, decrease in
germination rate, root and shoot lengths were observed with increasing concentration of NaCl and ABA while GA3 enhanced
shoot length. The fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) results showed that protein, carbohydrate, lipid, and cell wall pectin
content increased in the shoot, indicating that the carbon assimilation was not affected at the early seedling stage. However,
in root, the protein, carbohydrate, lipid synthesis and cell expansion ceased with both phytohormone and salt stress. Semiquantitative PCR analyses demonstrated that different variants of OsBTF3 were constitutively expressed in different tissues
and organs. The expression of Osj3g1BTF3, Osj3g2BTF3 and Osj10gBTF3 were primarily constitutive and generally
modulated by NaCl, ABA and GA3 stress in both root and shoot at the early seedling stage, suggesting that they are probably
differing from each other in biological function.
