Isolation of a salt-inducible gene from rice and its molecular cloning.

The genomic sequences of a salt inducible gene of rice have been isolated from both Indica and Japonica varieties of rice. The cDNA of this gene, SalT, characterized earlier shows sequence identity with both the genomic sequences. Approximately 750 base pairs of intervening sequence is present in the 1.2kb genomic sequence, obtained by PCR. There is a high degree of homology between the Indica and Japonica SalT genes except for the presence of an extra HindIII site in the former. A genomic library of Indica rice was screened and a phage clone of the SalT gene was partially characterized. Different species of monocot and dicot plant DNA showed sequence homology with SalT gene.