Molecular mechanisms of calcium-mediated stress responses in rice

I am particularly interested in mechanisms of calcium-mediated responses to stress. Because stress responses are mediated by complex networks of cell signaling, understanding mechanisms of how plants perceive and transmit stress signals and how the functional and regulatory proteins contribute to the tolerance require knowledge of a genome scale. Since the rice genome project has been completed, its genome sequence information can be exploited in this area.

In my lab, we are working on a family of calcium -binding proteins, calmodulin ( CaM ) in rice and trying to determine whether and how they contribute to stress tolerance. We have identified at least 37 CaM and CaM-like (CML) proteins from the rice genome databases. Currently, we focus on the highly conserved CaMs by studying expression of their genes, producing and characterizing the encoded recombinant proteins, identifying their target proteins, producing and examining transgenic rice plants with expression levels of their genes altered.

Our ultimate goal is to understand how stress signals are mediated by calcium-regulated pathways in conjunction with CaM and CML in rice. We will be using proteomic analysis to help identify proteins involved in the calcium/CaM signaling network that mediates stress responses. The knowledge on these proteins not only comprises critical components for understanding stress tolerance, but could also facilitate the effort to genetically improve stress tolerance of crop plants in the future.