Temperatures that extend beyond normal levels of tolerance cause severe stress to plants, especially during the reproductive and grain filling/ripening stages. Heat stress leads to serious yield losses in many crop plants, including rice (
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Ascorbate peroxidases (APXs) are enzymes that detoxify peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide using ascorbate. They are distributed as isoenzymes in distinct cellular compartments, such as the cytosol, mitochondria and peroxisomes, where they play essential roles in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and protecting cells against the toxic effects of these species in higher plants, algae, euglena and other organisms. APXs also respond to environmental stresses, such as salinity and drought, and rice ascorbate peroxidase 1 (OsAPx1) participates in salinity tolerance. However, it is still unclear how OsAPx1 is involved in growth and development before and after flowering. Here, we show that OsAPx1 plays an important function in seed development, including fertilization. Proteomic analysis and quantitative RT-PCR showed that protein and mRNA levels of OsAPx1 were much higher in immature seeds than in mature seeds. Plant height and grain size in an
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