Rice OsRH58, a chloroplast DEAD-box RNA helicase, improves salt or drought stress tolerance in Arabidopsis by affecting chloroplast translation

Background Despite increasing characterization of DEAD-box RNA helicases (RHs) in chloroplast gene expression regulation at posttranscriptional levels in plants, their functional roles in growth responses of crops, including rice (Oryza sativa), to abiotic stresses are yet to be characterized. In this study, rice OsRH58 (LOC_Os01g73900), a chloroplast-localized DEAD-box RH, was characterized for its expression patterns upon stress treatment and its functional roles using transgenic Arabidopsis plants under normal and abiotic stress conditions.