Ectopic expression of a vesicle trafficking gene, OsRab7, from Oryza sativa , confers tolerance to several abiotic stresses in Escherichia coli

Rab7 is a small GTP-binding protein involved in intracellular vesicle trafficking from late endosome to the vacuole. In this study, the gene OsRab7 was isolated from Oryza sativa . Over-expression of OsRab7 gene in Escherichia coli increased the resistance to heat, cold and salt stress. In addition, subcellular localization of OsRab7 protein in E. coli and onion cells all revealed that OsRab7 protein is specifically present in the cytoplasm. These results showed that OsRab7 plays an important role in stress tolerance and probably develop abiotic stress tolerance in E. coli and planta with similar mechanism.