A CHASE domain containing protein kinase OsCRL4, represents a new AtCRE1-like gene family in rice.

AtCRE1 is known to be a cytokinin receptor in Arabidopsis. The AtCRE1 protein contains CHASE domain at the N-terminal part, followed by a transmitter (histidine kinase) domain and two receiver domains. The N-terminal CHASE domain of AtCRE1 contains putative recognition sites for cytokinin. Five CHASE domains containing proteins were found in rice, OsCRL1a, OsCRL1b, OsCRL2, OsCRL3, and OsCRL4. OsCRL1a, OsCRL1b, OsCRL2 and OsCRL3 contain the four domains existing in CRE1, whereas OsCRL4 only contains the CHASE domain and a putative Ser/Thr protein kinase domain. The authors cloned the encoding gene OsCRL4 and found that it represents a new member of the cytokinin receptor protein in rice.