title: Gene mining in halophytes: functional identification of stress tolerance genes in Lepidium crassifolium.
abstract: Extremophile plants are valuable sources of genes conferring tolerance traits, which can be explored to improve stress tolerance of crops. Lepidium crassifolium is a halophytic relative of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and displays tolerance to salt, osmotic and oxidative stresses. We have employed the modified Conditional cDNA Overexpression System to transfer a cDNA library from L. crassifolium to the glycophyte A. thaliana. By screening for salt, osmotic and oxidative stress tolerance through in vitro growth assays and non-destructive chlorophyll fluorescence imaging, 20 Arabidopsis lines were identified with superior performance under restrictive conditions. Several cDNA inserts were cloned and confirmed to be responsible for the enhanced tolerance by analysing independent transgenic lines. Examples include full-length cDNAs encoding proteins with high homologies to GDSL-lipase/esterase or acyl CoA-binding protein or proteins without known function, which could confer tolerance to one or several stress conditions. Our results confirm that random gene transfer from stress tolerant to sensitive plant species is a valuable tool to discover novel genes with potential for biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rigó
authors.affiliation: Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Valkai
authors.affiliation: Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dóra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faragó
authors.affiliation: Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Edina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kiss
authors.affiliation: Bayer CropScience, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Van Houdt
authors.affiliation: Bayer CropScience, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Van de Steene
authors.affiliation: Bayer CropScience, 9052, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hannah
authors.affiliation: Biological Research Centre, Institute of Plant Biology, 6726, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Szabados
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis; D003681:Dehydration; D015723:Gene Library; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D029686:Lepidium / Q000235:genetics*; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010269:Paraquat; D055051:Salt-Tolerant Plants / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010269:Paraquat
keywords: COS system; Lepidium crassifolium; cDNA library; drought tolerance; gene identification; halophyte; salt tolerance