The Ku70-Ku80 heterodimer plays a critical role in the maintenance of genomic stability in humans and yeasts. In this report, we identified and characterized OsKu80 in rice, a model monocot crop. OsKu80 forms a heterodimer with OsKu70 in yeast and plant cells, as demonstrated by yeast two-hybrid, in vivo co-immunoprecipitation, and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. RNAi-mediated knock-down T3 transgenic rice plants (Ubi:RNAi-OsKu80) displayed a retarded growth phenotype at the post-germination stage. In addition, the Ubi:RNAi-OsKu80 knock-down progeny exhibited noticeably increased telomere length as compared to wild-type rice. These results are discussed with the idea that OsKu80 plays a role in developmental growth and telomere length regulation in rice plants.
Keywords: Developmental growth; Genome stability; Ku70/Ku80 heterodimer; Ku80; Rice (Oryza sativa L.); Telomere.
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