Abstract
Suaeda japonica, a member of the family Chenopodiaceae, is a halophyte that can grows on the shores of the Ariake Sea in Japan. This plant species can grow in the presence of 0.7 M NaCl. Finding the key genes for salt tolerance in this plant may greatly assist agricultural productivity in the future. We therefore constructed a cDNA library and undertook functional screening for genes that may be required for salt-tolerance mechanisms, using Escherichia coli as the host organism. This screening isolated a transformant with enhanced salt tolerance that expressed chloroplast RNA binding protein (SjRBP). In addition, the Arabidopsis thaliana overexpressing SjRBP under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter displayed enhanced salt tolerance. Furthermore, we investigated RNA sequence target by SjRBP with SELEX method and determined candidate sequences.
