title: Histochemical evaluation of catechins in PEG stressed transgenic tea plants using catechin-specific-diazotized sulfanilamide reagent.
abstract: We investigated the applicability of catechin-specific-reagent (CSR) for histochemical evaluation of catechins. The diazotized arylamine moiety in CSR reacts specifically with the A-ring of catechins to yield a golden yellow complex. This makes it highly specific for spectrophotometric quantification of catechins. Therefore, microtome cut sections of untransformed and osmotin-expressing transgenic leaves and stem of tea were stained with CSR. We found catechins in the form of golden yellow globules. The catechin globules increased in the structurally intact and highly turgid cells of osmotin expressing transgenic tea plants after stress treatment with 20% PEG; by contrast, the cells in non-transgenic plants accumulated fewer catechin globules. Spectrophotometric quantification of catechins also confirmed higher levels in transgenics compared to untransformed plants. We found elevated accumulation of catechins in stress tolerant cells of tea leaves.
authors.affiliation: CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research , Palampur-176061, Himachal Pradesh , India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chanda
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ahuja
mesh_terms: D002392:Catechin / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011095:Polyethylenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D000077145:Sulfanilamide; D013424:Sulfanilamides / Q000378:metabolism*; D013662:Tea / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011095:Polyethylenes; D013424:Sulfanilamides; D013662:Tea; C045578:polyethylene chloride; D000077145:Sulfanilamide; D002392:Catechin
keywords: Camellia sinensis; catechins; sulfanilamide; tea; transgenic