Engineering the production of sugar alcohols in transgenic plants: Extending the limits of photosynthesis. Final technical report
In the different tobacco lines expressing different polyols, the authors have investigated how the presence of polyols affects ion uptake during short periods of stress. In addition, they began investigations on recovery from short periods of stress, e.g. eight days of drought and/or five days in 400 mM NaCl. The transgenic plants take up sodium more slowly. The next set of experiments, modeled after the experiments done with Mesembryanthemum will investigate ion transport and partitioning in control and transgenic tobacco. Photosynthetic activities of drought-stressed mannitol/ononitrol tobacco were investigated. Measurements of fluorescence, carbon fixation rates and electron transport indicated that the polyol-containing plants loose photosynthetic competence more slowly than controls. Transfer of the mtlD gene (mannitol production) into Arabidopsis has been accomplished. The transgenic plants are phenotypically normal. They survive 300 mM NaCl when the stress is started when the plants are mature--in contrast to wild type which is killed at 150 mM. Seeds from mannitol-containing plants germinate (100%) in 100 mM NaCl while germination rate of wild type is about 20%. In 200 mM NaCl n wild type germinates, while in some transgenic lines still 50% of the seeds germinated. At 250 mM NaCl during germination, the transgenic seeds are severely impaired, only 10 to 20% begin germination.
- Research Organization:
- Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States). Dept. of Biochemistry
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-92ER20066
- OSTI ID:
- 481536
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/20066-T1; ON: DE97007572; TRN: AHC29712%%78
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 31 Mar 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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