Down‐regulation of CBP 80 gene expression as a strategy to engineer a drought‐tolerant potato

• Published in: Plant biotechnology journal Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 459 - 469
• Main Authors: Pieczynski, Marcin, Marczewski, Waldemar, Hennig, Jacek, Dolata, Jakub, Bielewicz, Dawid, Piontek, Paulina, Wyrzykowska, Anna, Krusiewicz, Dominika, Strzelczyk‐Zyta, Danuta, Konopka‐Postupolska, Dorota, Krzeslowska, Magdalena, Jarmolowski, Artur, Szweykowska‐Kulinska, Zofia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2013
• Subjects: Solanum tuberosum
• ISSN: 1467-7644; 1467-7652
• DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12032

Developing new strategies for crop plants to respond to drought is crucial for their innovative breeding. The down‐regulation of nuclear cap‐binding proteins in A rabidopsis renders plants drought tolerant. The CBP 80 gene in the potato cultivar Desiree was silenced using artificial micro RNA s. Transgenic plants displayed a higher tolerance to drought, ABA ‐hypersensitive stomatal closing, an increase in leaf stomata and trichome density, and compact cuticle structures with a lower number of microchannels. These findings were correlated with a higher tolerance to water stress. The level of mi R 159 was decreased, and the levels of its target mRNA s MYB 33 and MYB 101 increased in the transgenic plants subjected to drought. Similar trends were observed in an A rabidopsis cbp80 mutant. The evolutionary conservation of CBP 80 , a gene that plays a role in the response to drought, suggests that it is a candidate for genetic manipulations that aim to obtain improved water‐deficit tolerance of crop plants.