Global warming and climate changing nowadays are known as one of the most harmful factors concerning the yield of worldwide crop plants. To adapt with new challenges, a well-known strategy of plants is water-balance control. Aquaporins are a gene family of integral membrane proteins which play a central role in water transport regulation. By searching diverse databases, we expanded the number of rice aquaporin family from 33 to 37 genes. After that, the phylogenomic data integrating anatomical expression patterns consisting of 1150 affymetrix arrays and 209 Agilent 44K arrays, and stress responsible expression patterns were constructed and analyzed. The systemic overview of gene expression for rice aquaporin family is used to evaluate functional redundancy within this family and identify suitable target genes in response to water stress. Functional gene network mediated by water stress relating aquaporin genes also suggested a useful platform for further researches.

Global warming and climate changing nowadays are known as one of the most harmful factors concerning the yield of worldwide crop plants. To adapt with new challenges, a well-known strategy of plants is water-balance control. Aquaporins are a gene family of integral membrane proteins which play a central role in water transport regulation. By searching diverse databases, we expanded the number of rice aquaporin family from 33 to 37 genes. After that, the phylogenomic data integrating anatomical expression patterns consisting of 1150 affymetrix arrays and 209 Agilent 44K arrays, and stress responsible expression patterns were constructed and analyzed. The systemic overview of gene expression for rice aquaporin family is used to evaluate functional redundancy within this family and identify suitable target genes in response to water stress. Functional gene network mediated by water stress relating aquaporin genes also suggested a useful platform for further researches.