title: Genetically engineered microorganisms to rescue plants from frost injury.
abstract: Ice nucleation active bacteria belonging to genera Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas and Erwinia contribute to frost damage to plants by initiating the formation of ice in plants that would otherwise supercool and avoid the damaging ice formation. The biological control of frost injury can be achieved by the application of non-ice nucleation active bacteria to the plant surfaces before they become colonized by Ice+ species. ice genes have been cloned from Pseudomonas and isogenic Ice- derivatives constructed via genetic manipulations. These genetically engineered microorganisms (GEMs) have been released into the environment to control the frost damage. The incidence of frost injury to the plants has, thereby, been reduced by 50-85% during natural frosts. These GEMs do not survive in soil and show no aerial dispersal in the environment.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Section, S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Shalimar, Srinagar, Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Dar
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004885:Erwinia / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000235:genetics; D014974:Xanthomonas / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C063113:ice nucleation protein