title: Ectopic overexpression of the aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH21 from Syntrichia caninervis in tobacco confers salt and drought stress tolerance.
abstract: Aldehyde dehydrogenases are important enzymes that play vital roles in mitigating oxidative/electrophilic stress when plants are exposed to environmental stress. An aldehyde dehydrogenase gene from Syntrichia caninervis, ScALDH21, was introduced into tobacco using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to generate ScALDH21-overexpressing tobacco plants to investigate its effect on drought and salt resistance. Detached leaves from ScALDH21-overexpressing tobacco plants showed less water loss than those from nontransgenic plants. When subjected to drought and salt stress, transgenic plants displayed higher germination ratios, higher root lengths, greater fresh weight, higher proline accumulation, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) contents and stronger photosynthetic capacities, as well as higher activities of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase, compared with control plants. Therefore, ScALDH21 overexpression in transgenic tobacco plants can enhance drought and salt tolerance and can be used as a candidate gene for the molecular breeding of salt- and drought-tolerant plants.
authors.affiliation: College of Resource and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China; Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Urumqi 830011, China.
authors.forename: Honglan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Urumqi 830011, China. Electronic address: zhangdy@ms.xjb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Daoyuan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Urumqi 830011, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive and Stem Cell Engineering of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410078, China.
authors.forename: Lingfeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China. Electronic address: lanhaiyan@xju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lan
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D019068:Bryopsida / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase
keywords: Drought and salt stress; Osmotic tolerance; Oxidative stress; ScALDH21; Transgenic tobacco