Low temperature is a major factor restrict to growth and limiting productivity of rice crops. We used a cDNA microarray approach to monitor the expression profile of rice (Oryza sativa) under chilling stress and identified 20 chilling inducible genes in previously study. Ten such genes encoding bHLH, metal transporter and, zinc finger protein with unknown functions showed a significant change in expression under various abiotic stresses. Among them, OsCHI1 (Os07g15460), OsCHI2 (Os02g43660), and OsCHI3 (Os01g61160), were selected for further study. They have structural features such as metal-binding signature sequences in their protein sequences, and OsCHI genes were expressed in root of rice seedling and induced in chilling and salt or drought. Expression of OsCHI1, OsCHI3 and OsCHI2 were targeted to membrane and ER when transiently expressed in tobacco cell, respectively. The Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) transgenic plants overexpressing showed increased tolerance to salt and drought stress in the seed germination and root elongation than that of wild type. This comprehensive study provides insight into the biological function of OsCHIs, which may be useful in understanding how rice plants adapt to unfavorable environmental conditions.