Plant Hsp90 family with special reference to rice

Abstract

Hsp90 family represents a group of highly conserved and strongly expressed proteins present in almost all biological species. Heat shock proteins in the range of 90 kDa have been detected in a range of plant species andhsp90 genes have been cloned and characterized in selected instances. However, the expression characteristics of plant Hsp90 are poorly understood. Work on expression characteristics of rice Hsp90 is reviewed in this paper. Experimental evidence is provided for indicating that while the rice 87 kDa protein is transiently synthesized within initial 2 h of heat shock, high steady-state levels of this protein are retained even under prolonged high temperature stress conditions or recovery following 4 h heat shock. It is further shown that fifteen different wild rices accumulate differential levels of these proteins in response to heat shock treatment.