The current eccentric environment changes are causing serious impacts on food crops, including rice. Such environmental circumstances encompass abiotic stress conditions such as drought, cold, heat, and inappropriate levels of metals. To cope with abiotic stresses, plants initiate various metabolic pathways that modify themselves according to such stresses. In this study, we have computationally analyzed genes in rice that exhibit differential expression under various abiotic stress conditions. A widely used database was accessed for gene expression data on rice in response to drought, salt, and cold stresses. The research uncovered that 7722 genes, 3040 genes, and 1705 genes were expressed differently in rice under drought, salt, and cold conditions, respectively. Two hundred and twenty-two up-regulated and 58 down-regulated genes were identified which express under all stresses and were regarded as significant differentially expressed genes. Functional annotation showed that these genes encode beta-amylase, cytochrome P450, cyclin-dependent protein kinases, and the NAC domain-containing protein which plays crucial roles during stress. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that significant genes participate in biological pathways such as the phenylpropanoid pathway, abscisic acid signaling, cell wall organization, and choline biosynthesis. Thus, our study reported a set of relevant genes that help understand the molecular mechanism behind stress tolerance in rice.
Key words: Gene expression, functional annotation, protein-protein interactions, marker genes
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