Enhanced low oxygen survival in Arabidopsis through increased metabolic flux in the fermentative pathway.
We manipulated the enzyme activity levels of the alcohol fermentation pathway, pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in Arabidopsis using sense and antisense overexpression of the corresponding genes (PDC1, PDC2, and ADH1). Transgenic plants were analyzed for levels of fermentation and evaluated for changes in hypoxic survival. Overexpression of either Arabidopsis PDC1 or PDC2 resulted in improved plant survival. In contrast, overexpression of Arabidopsis ADH1 had no effect on flooding survival. These results support the role of PDC as the control step in ethanol fermentation. Although ADH1 null mutants had decreased hypoxic survival, attempts to reduce the level of PDC activity enough to see an effect on plant survival met with limited success. The combination of flooding survival data and metabolite analysis allows identification of critical metabolic flux points. This information can be used to design transgenic strategies to improve hypoxic tolerance in plants.
Ismond
Kathleen P
KP
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9.
Dolferus
Rudy
R
de Pauw
Mary
M
Dennis
Elizabeth S
ES
Good
Allen G
AG
D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011767:Pyruvate Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019289:Pyruvic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D019289:Pyruvic Acid; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D011767:Pyruvate Decarboxylase; D010100:Oxygen