Antisense suppression of proline degradation improves environmental stress tolerance in Arabidopsis
Description
[Synopsis]
Many plants accumulate free proline (Pro) in response to environmental stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature. P5CS is a rate-limiting enzyme in Pro biosynthesis and ProDH is an enzyme responsible for the first step of Pro degradation. To elucidate essential roles of Pro, we generated antisense transgenic Arabidopsis plants with P5CS or ProDH cDNAs. The P5CS antisense transgenic plants accumulated Pro at a significantly lower level than wild-type plants, and were susceptible to osmotic stress. In contrast, the ProDH antisense transgenic plants showed enhanced accumulation of Pro and tolerance to freezing and high salinity. These results will help us to improve crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. The constitutive accumulation of Pro due to inhibition of its degradation may be a promising approach to creating environmental stress tolerant crops.
- Affiliation
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Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences Biological Resources Division
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RIKEN
- Classification
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Technical A
- Term of research
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FY2000 (FY1996-2000)
- Responsible researcher
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YAMAGUCHI-SHINOZAKI Kazuko ( Biological Resources Division )
NAKASHIMA Kazuo ( Biological Resources Division )
NANJO Tokihiko ( RIKEN )
Shinozaki Kazuo ( RIKEN )
KAKEN Researcher No.: 20124216 - ほか
- Japanese PDF
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2000_03_A3_ja.pdf950.01 KB