Structure, expression pattern and chromosomal localization of the rice Osgrp-2 gene

Glycine-rich proteins (GRPs) belong to a kind of important structural proteins of plant cell walls. The expression of GRP genes is regulated spatially and developmentally as well as by various environmental stresses, thus providing a good model for the study of plant gene expression. We obtained the genomic sequence of a new GRP gene (Osgrp- 2) from a rice genomic library. The transcription start site of Osgrp- 2 was determined by 5′-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and a 2.4-kb promoter sequence was thus delimited. The spatial and developmental expression pattern as well as the wound-inducible character of Osgrp- 2 in rice plants was analyzed in detail. Furthermore, the gene was mapped onto rice chromosome 10 by analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).