Genome-wide identification and analyses of the rice OsDUF936 family

The domain of unknown function DUF936 family consists of proteins with an average length of around 328 residues that have no characterized function in rice. In this study, we report nine OsDUF936 (OsDUF936.1–OsDUF936.9) family members in rice Nipponbare with three distinct motifs. All the OsDUF936 proteins were classified into four major groups (I, II, III and IV) by phylogenetic analysis. The expression level of OsDUF936.3, OsDUF936.5 and OsDUF936.6 displayed significant increase under salt stress conditions. Overexpression of OsDUF936.6 in Escherichia coli significantly improved the tolerance to salt, while overexpression of OsDUF936.3 and OsDUF936.5 in E. coli did not have such an effect. The results presented here would be helpful for further study on the function of the OsDUF936 family in rice.