OsHSF7 gene in rice, Oryza sativa L., encodes a transcription factor that functions as a high temperature receptive and responsive factor.

Three novel Class A genes that encode heat shock transcription factor (HSF) were cloned from Oryza Sativa L using a yeast hybrid method. The OsHSF7 gene was found to be rapidly expressed in high levels in response to temperature, which indicates that it may be involved in heat stress reception and response. Over-expression of OsHSF7 in transgenic Arabidopsis could not induced over the expression of most target heat stress-inducible genes of HSFs; however, the transcription of some HSF target genes was more abundant in transgenic plants following two hours of heat stress treatment. In addition, those transgenic plants also had a higher basal thermotolerance, but not acquired thermotolerance. Collectively, the results of this study indicate that OsHSF7 might play an important role in the response to high temperature. Specifically, these findings indicate that OsHSF7 may be useful in the production of transgenic monocots that can over-express protective genes such as HSPs in response to heat stress, which will enable such plants to tolerate high temperatures. [BMB reports 2009; 42(1): 16-21].