METABOLIC ENGINEERING FOR STRESS TOLERANCE 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Text Box: High temperature stress is a serious threat to growth, fruit set and crop yield. We have observed improved thermotolerance in tobacco plants engineered to express a bacterial gene involved in the synthesis of the non-protein amino acid beta-alanine.  The photographs on the left illustrate increased leaf size (top) and shoot growth (bottom) for transgenic tobacco engineered for the bacterial panD gene (pD2 and pD7) compared to vector control (pR5) and wild-type (WT) grown under identical conditions in a greenhouse in Gainesville.  Our current research focus is to understand the mechanism on how plant heat tolerance is increased by a metabolic manipulation in beta-alanine synthesis.  See the following publication for details:  Fouad WM, Rathinasabapathi B (2006) Expression of bacterial L-asparatate-alpha-decarboxylase in tobacco increases beta-alanine and pantothenate levels and improves thermotolerance.  Plant Molecular Biology 60:495-505.            This research is supported by a grant from the USDA-TSTAR program. TO HOME                     TO PREVIOUS PAGE             [The link bar feature is not available in this web]  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: pR5             pD2              pD7