Description
We advance a three gene model of arsenate tolerance in rice based on testing root growth of 108 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of the Bala x Azucena population. Marker genotype at 3 loci determined arsenate tolerance in 99% of RILs tested. Interestingly, plants must inherit 2, but any two alleles from the tolerant parent (Bala) to have the tolerant phenotype. Challenging the Affymetrix GeneChip Rice Genome array with Azucena and Bala RNA isolated from control and arsenate treated plants revealed 592 genes 2 fold-upregulated by arsenate and 696 downregulated. The array data was also used to identify which genes are expressed within the three target loci.