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Transgenic Turfgrasses Expressing Hyperactive Ser599Ala Phytochrome A Mutant Exhibit Abiotic Stress Tolerance

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Abstract

Turfgrasses are environmentally and recreationally valuable plants that are constantly subjected to various forms of stress in their artificial and natural habitats. Previously, it was shown that the transformation of a hyperactive mutant (Serine 599 Alanine, S599A) of oat phytochrome A in zoysia grass (Zoysia japonica) and creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) resulted in superior quality turfgrass with improved shade tolerance response. We now examined the abiotic stress response of the transgenic turfgrasses expressing the hyperactive mutant S599A-PhyA. The transgenic S599A-PhyA plants subjected to high salinity and heavy metal toxicity stress exhibited higher chlorophyll content, lower hydrogen peroxide level, and higher proline accumulation than the controls. Furthermore, the anti-oxidative activities of four reactive oxygen species scavenging enzymes and the total biomass (above and below-ground) were higher in S599A-PhyA plants than in the controls under both the stress conditions. Moreover, higher photosynthetic efficiency (F v/F m) of S599A-PhyA plants indicated healthier growth than the controls under stress conditions. Results suggest that the hyperactive mutant of oat phytochrome A confers abiotic stress tolerance in plants, and can be used to efficiently develop abiotic stress tolerant crops in future.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 2012R1A1A2000706 to PSS, Grant No. 2014R1A1A2057739 to JIK), and Next-Generation Biogreen 21 Program, Rural Development Administration, Korea (Grant No. PJ009499012014 to HYL).

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  1. Mayank Anand Gururani

    Present address: School of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, 712-749, Korea

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biotechnology, Subtropical Horticulture Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, 690-756, Korea

    Mayank Anand Gururani, Markkandan Ganesan, In-Ja Song, Hyo-Yeon Lee & Pill-Soon Song

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata, 700073, West Bengal, India

    Markkandan Ganesan

  3. Department of Biotechnology and Kumho Life Science Laboratory, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, Korea

    Yunjeong Han & Jeong-Il Kim

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  1. Mayank Anand Gururani
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Correspondence to Pill-Soon Song.

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Gururani, M.A., Ganesan, M., Song, IJ. et al. Transgenic Turfgrasses Expressing Hyperactive Ser599Ala Phytochrome A Mutant Exhibit Abiotic Stress Tolerance. J Plant Growth Regul 35, 11–21 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-015-9502-0

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