Fig. 1

Spatiotemporal expression patterns of OsNCA1a and OsNCA1b and subcellular localization of OsNCA1a and OsNCA1b in rice. (A) Transcriptional expression in different organs. Different organs throughout the life cycle were sampled and analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. Relative mRNA levels in different organs were graphed based on the NCA1 mRNA level in leaf as 1. (B) Transcriptional expression in leaves at different growth stages. Cotyledons at budding stage and the second leaf from top at other stages were sampled for analysis. Relative mRNA levels at different growth stages were graphed based on the NCA1 mRNA level in seeding stage as 1. Data are means (± SD) of three biological replicates. Different letters on the top of columns indicate significant difference at p < 0.05 according to Duncan’s multiple range test. (C) Subcellular localization as detected by protoplast transient expression analysis. OsNCA1a and OsNCA1b are located in the cytosol. Cells are imaged by a confocal microscope at 14–16 h after transfection; MCS, multiple cloning sites; MCS-GFP, GFP linked to C terminal; GFP-MCS, GFP linked to N terminal; NCA1a-GFP, GFP linked to C terminal of OsNCA1a; GFP-NCA1a, GFP linked to N terminal of OsNCA1a. Legends for OsNCA1b are the same as for OsNCA1a. BL, bright light; chlorophyll, chloroplast chlorophyll autofluorescence; GFP, GFP fluorescence. Scale bars, 5 μm. These results are representative of three independent experiments