Transgenic Arabidopsis Plants Expressing Tomato Glutathione S-Transferase Showed Enhanced Resistance to Salt and Drought Stress

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 9; p. e0136960
• Main Authors: Xu, Jing, Xing, Xiao-Juan, Tian, Yong-Sheng, Peng, Ri-He, Xue, Yong, Zhao, Wei, Yao, Quan-Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.09.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Adaptation, Physiological - genetics; Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - genetics; Aluminum; Analysis; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biotechnology; Cloning; Drought; Droughts; Enzymes; Flowers; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant - genetics; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genetic transformation; Glutathione; Glutathione transferase; Glutathione Transferase - genetics; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; Kinases; Lycopersicon esculentum; Lycopersicon esculentum - genetics; Malondialdehyde; Mannitol; Metabolism; Methods; Mosses; Osmotic Pressure - physiology; Osmotic stress; Oxidative stress; Physiological aspects; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Roots - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Proline; Rice; Salinity; Salt; Salt-Tolerance - genetics; Salts; Seeds; Sodium Chloride; Stress management; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Tobacco; Tomatoes; Transcription; Transformation; Transgenic plants; Trends; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136960

Although glutathione S-transferases (GST, EC 2.5.1.18) are involved in response to abiotic stress, limited information is available regarding gene function in tomato. In this study, a GST gene from tomato, designated LeGSTU2, was cloned and functionally characterized. Expression profile analysis results showed that it was expressed in roots and flowers, and the transcription was induced by salt, osmotic, and heat stress. The gene was then introduced to Arabidopsis by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants were normal in terms of growth and maturity compared with wild-type plants. Transgenic plants also showed an enhanced resistance to salt and osmotic stress induced by NaCl and mannitol. The increased tolerance of transgenic plants was correlated with the changes in proline, malondialdehyde and antioxidative emzymes activities. Our results indicated that the gene from tomato plays a positive role in improving tolerance to salinity and drought stresses in Arabidopsis.