title: A tomato endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-type omega-3 fatty acid desaturase (LeFAD3) functions in early seedling tolerance to salinity stress.
abstract: Transgenic tomato plants overexpressing LeFAD3 sense and antisense sequences were generated. Salt stress suppressed the growth of WT and antisense plants to a higher extent than that in sense plants. In this study, we investigated the role of the LeFAD3-encoding ER-type omega-3 fatty acid desaturase in salt tolerance in tomato plants. We created transgenic tomato plants by overexpressing its sense and antisense sequences under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Based on the results of northern and western blotting as well as quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, sense plants expressed more desaturase than wild-type (WT) plants, whereas antisense plants expressed less desaturase than WT. Salt stress suppressed the growth of both WT and antisense plants to a higher extent than that in sense plants, which can be attributed to the fact that sense plants performed better in maintaining the integrity of the membrane system, as revealed by electron microscopy. The concomitant increase in superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7) may have alleviated the photoinhibition caused by the increased level of ROS in sense plants. Our results suggest that LeFAD3 overexpression can enhance the tolerance of early seedlings to salinity stress.
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Science, Research Center of Bio-Breeding Industry, The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin'an, 311300, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China, whsych88@126.com.
authors.forename: Hua-Sen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xian-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Zhu-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Na-Na
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Qing-Wei
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases / Q000378:metabolism; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D054712:Salinity; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000502:physiology; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D060387:Ascorbate Peroxidases; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C078565:omega-3 fatty acid desaturase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase