Enhanced tolerance of transgenic potato plants expressing both superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase in chloroplasts against oxidative stress and high temperature.
Oxidative stress is a major damaging factor for plants exposed to environmental stresses. In order to develop transgenic potato plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stress, the genes of both Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase were expressed in chloroplasts under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter (referred to as SSA plants). SSA plants showed enhanced tolerance to 250 microM methyl viologen, and visible damage in SSA plants was one-fourth that of non-transgenic (NT) plants that were almost destroyed. In addition, when SSA plants were treated with a high temperature of 42 degrees C for 20 h, the photosynthetic activity of SSA plants decreased by only 6%, whereas that of NT plants decreased by 29%. These results suggest that the manipulation of the antioxidative mechanism of the chloroplasts may be applied in the development of industrial transgenic crop plants with increased tolerance to multiple environmental stresses.
Tang
Li
L
Environmental Biotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yuseong, Daejeon, 305-806, Korea.
Kwon
Suk-Yoon
SY
Kim
Sun-Hyung
SH
Kim
Jin-Seog
JS
Choi
Jung Sup
JS
Cho
Kwang Yun
KY
Sung
Chang K
CK
Kwak
Sang-Soo
SS
Lee
Haeng-Soon
HS
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D010269:Paraquat / Q000494:pharmacology; D010544:Peroxidases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
D010544:Peroxidases; D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D010269:Paraquat