RBM25 Mediates Abiotic Responses in Plants.

Alternative splicing (AS) of pre-mRNAs is one of the most important post-transcriptional regulations that enable a single gene to code for multiple proteins resulting in the biodiversity of proteins in eukaryotes. Recently, we have shown that an RNA recognition motif-containing protein RBM25 is a novel splicing factor to modulate plant response to ABA during seed germination and post-germination through regulating pre-mRNA AS. Here, we show that is preferentially expressed in stomata and vascular tissues in and is induced by ABA and abiotic stresses. Loss-of-function mutant is highly tolerant to drought and sensitive to salt stress. Bioinformatic analysis and expression assays reveal that is induced by multiple abiotic stresses, suggesting a crucial role of in responses to adverse environmental conditions. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive characterization of the homologous genes of based on the latest plant genome sequences and public microarray databases. Fourteen homologous genes are identified in different plant species which show similar structure in gene and protein. Notably, the promoter analysis reveals that homologs are likely controlled by the regulators involved in multiple plant growth and abiotic stresses, such as drought and unfavorable temperature. The comparative analysis of general and unique regulatory elements of the homologs highlights the conserved and unique molecular processes that modulate plant response to abiotic stresses through RBM25-mediated alternative splicing.