Figure 6

Down-regulation of OsMYB103L decreases mechanical strength and affected cellulose biosynthesis. (A) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis for RNAi transgenic plants. The transcript levels of OsMYB103L in WT were arbitrarily set to 1. Values are the mean ± SD of three replicates. (B) An easily broken OsMYB103L RNAi-1 leaves, as indicated by the arrow. (C) The force required to break WT and OsMYB103L RNAi lines flag leaves. Error bar represents SD (n =10 in each measurement). (D) Comparison of cellulose content between the wild type and OsMYB103L RNAi lines flag leaves. Error bar represents SD (n = 5 in each measurement). (E) Relative expression of rice cellulose synthase (CESA) genes in wild type (WT) and OsMYB103L RNAi plants was determined by qRT-PCR analysis. The transcript levels of genes were normalized to the levels of ACTIN1 gene expression. The transcript levels of these genes in wild type were arbitrarily set to 1. Values are the mean ± SD of three replicates. Asterisks (** or ***) indicate a significant difference between transgenic plants and WT controls at P < 0.01 or 0.001, respectively, by Student’s t-test.