title: Enhanced drought tolerance of transgenic rice plants expressing a pea manganese superoxide dismutase.
abstract: We investigated the role that manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), an important antioxidant enzyme, may play in the drought tolerance of rice. MnSOD from pea (Pisum sativum) under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter was introduced into chloroplasts of rice (Oryza sativa) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to develop drought-tolerant rice plants. Functional expression of the pea MnSOD in transgenic rice plants (T1) was revealed under drought stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000. After PEG treatment the transgenic leaf slices showed reduced electrolyte leakage compared to wild type (WT) leaf slices, whether they were exposed to methyl viologen (MV) or not, suggesting that transgenic plants were more resistant to MV- or PEG-induced oxidative stress. Transgenic plants also exhibited less injury, measured by net photosynthetic rate, when treated with PEG. Our data suggest that SOD is a critical component of the ROS scavenging system in plant chloroplasts and that the expression of MnSOD can improve drought tolerance in rice.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Fang-Zheng
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qing-Bin
authors.initials: QB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Suk-Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Sang-Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Wei-Ai
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000201:enzymology; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase