Trans-acting factor designated OSBZ8 interacts with both typical abscisic acid responsive elements as well as abscisic acid responsive element-like sequences in the vegetative tissues of indica rice cultivars.

Specific cis-acting elements, identified in the stress-regulated promoters, can respond to the changes in the levels of abscisic acid. Most of our previous works were done with ACGT-containing typical abscisic acid responsive elements (ABREs) but not with non-ACGT, GC-rich sequences also present in such promoters. The current communication shows a comparative analysis performed on the binding of rice nuclear proteins, together with the purified transcription factor OSBZ8, to the cis-elements in the promoters of Rab16A (Motif I/Motif II), Osem (Motif A-1/Motif B) and Em (4X ABRE/2X ABRC). Our data show that the extent of binding of nuclear protein from salt-tolerant rice to both typical ABREs and non-ACGT, ABRE-like sequences such as Motif IIa, is much higher than that from salt-sensitive rice and occurs constitutively, i.e., even with the protein from unstressed plants. The complex formation is low and inducible only by salt in the salt-sensitive variety. While Motif I bind to a single 38 kDa protein, Motif IIa bind to two polypeptides of 38 and 29 kDa. We also show here that the activation and binding of OSBZ8 to the upstream regions of salt-inducible genes depends on its phosphorylated state. The novelty of our work is that it shows rice OSBZ8 as the prime factor interacting with both typical ABRE(s) and ABRE-like sequences. To our knowledge, this is also the first report for the detection and identification of Motif IIa (non-ACGT, coupling element-like)-binding factor(s) from rice and their expression pattern in different rice cultivars.