the expression of some genes involved in cold tolerance in rice (oryza sativa l.) using rt-pcr

cold stress during the beginning of the season usually causes damage to rice plants in the north of iran. in this study, the expression of four genes namely osp5cs2, osttp1, oscoin and oslti6a, was studied in 14-day-old seedlings of a cold tolerance pr genotype and a cold sensitive hashemi variety during cold stress (5°c for 24h) by means of differential display method. pcr products were quantified using total lab (ver 1.10) software and significant differences in gene expression were determined using wilcoxon test of spss.ver.18 software. different genes displayed diverse expression patterns in tolerant and susceptible plants under cold stress condition. the expression level of osp5cs2 and oslti6a genes increased in pr and suppressed significantly in hashemi genotypes. two other genes, ostpp1 and oscoin, were significantly up-regulated in pr, but did not have detectable expression in hashemi. the results suggest that the expression of studied genes changes in response to cold stress and so probably the expression changes of these genes could be applicable in breeding projects in order to develop rice cold tolerance.