Transgenic tomato cv. Pusa Uphar expressing a bacterial mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase gene confers abiotic stress tolerance

• Published in: Plant cell, tissue and organ culture Vol. 103; no. 2; pp. 267 - 277
• Main Authors: Khare, Neeraj, Goyary, Danswrang, Singh, Narendra Kumar, Shah, Pramila, Rathore, Meenal, Anandhan, Sivalingam, Sharma, Dinesh, Arif, Mohomad, Ahmed, Zakwan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01-11-2010; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Agrobacterium; Agrobacterium tumefaciens; alcohol oxidoreductases; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Catalase; Cauliflower mosaic virus; cold stress; Dehydrogenase; Dehydrogenases; Drought; Electrolyte leakage; electrolytes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic transformation; genetic vectors; Life Sciences; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; Low temperature; Lycopersicon esculentum; Malondialdehyde; Mannitol; mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase; membrane permeability; Moisture content; molecular sequence data; mortality; oxidative stress; Peroxidation; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Polyethylene glycol; polymerase chain reaction; promoter regions; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Reverse transcription; salt stress; Sodium chloride; Solanum lycopersicum var. lycopersicum; stress tolerance; Stresses; Superoxide dismutase; Tomatoes; Transgenic plants; Viruses; Water content; water stress; Mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase gene; Pusa Uphar; Cotyledonary leaves; Abiotic stress; Cotyledon; Environmental factor; Genetic determinism; Abiotic factor; Agrobacterium; Gene; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Lycopersicon esculentum; Bacteria; Transgenic plant; Agrobacterium transformation; Solanaceae; Vegetals; Genetic transformation; Enzyme; Tolerance; Plant leaf; Mannitol-1-phosphate 5-dehydrogenase; Stress; Spermatophyta; Oxidoreductases; Rhizobiaceae
• ISSN: 0167-6857; 1573-5044
• DOI: 10.1007/s11240-010-9776-7

A bacterial mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (mtlD) gene driven by the constitutive cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter was transferred into tomato plants using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation protocol in an attempt to improve abiotic stress tolerance in the transformed plants. Transgene integration was confirmed by PCR analysis and Southern blot analysis, and transgene expression was confirmed by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and direct mtlD (EC 1.1.1.17) activity. Upon exposure to low temperature stress (4°C) in a cold chamber, transgenic plants survived up to 48 h, while non-transformed plants were unable to survive and gradually died. Transgenic plants subjected to the chilling stress showed a significant decrease in electrolyte leakage and increased lipid peroxidation, as assessed by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) content. Under the cold condition, transgenic plants also showed a significant increase in the activities of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) and in relative water content (RWC) in comparison to non-transformed plants. Drought (polyethylene glycol in medium) and salinity (sodium chloride in medium) tolerance tests revealed that transgenic lines exhibited a higher tolerance for abiotic stresses than non-transformed plants. These findings indicate that the introduction of a bacterial mtlD gene into tomato conferred tolerance to abiotic stresses to the transformed tomato plants.