title: Isolation of genes conferring salt tolerance from Piriformospora indica by random overexpression in Escherichia coli.
abstract: Piriformospora indica, a root endophytic fungus identified in the Indian Thar desert, colonizes the roots of plants and provides resistance towards biotic stress as well as tolerance to abiotic stress in the plants. Despite its positive impact on the host, little is known about the P. indica genes that are involved in salt stress tolerance. Therefore this study was conducted to identify and isolate high salinity-tolerance genes from P. indica. Thirty-six salinity-tolerance genes were obtained by functional screening, based on random over expression of a P. indica cDNA library in Escherichia coli grown on medium supplemented with 0.6 M NaCl. The salinity tolerance conferred by these 36 genes in bacteria was further confirmed by using another strain of E. coli (DH5α) transformants. However when the expression of these 36 genes was analysed in P. indica using quantitative RT-PCR, we found only six genes were up-regulated by salt stress. These six genes are involved in different cellular processes, such as metabolism, energy and biosynthetic processes, DNA repair, regulation of protein turnover, transport and salt stress tolerance. This work presents the basis for further molecular analyses of the mechanisms of salt tolerance in P. indica and for the use of this endophyte to confer salt tolerance to plants.
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular Biology Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India.
authors.forename: Sunayna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gahlot
authors.forename: Amita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: Pratap
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Renu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tuteja
authors.forename: Meenakshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dua
authors.forename: Abhimanyu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jogawat
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raj
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dayaman
authors.forename: Atul Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Johri
authors.forename: Narendra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tuteja
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride