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Identification of a putative stearoyl acyl-carrier-protein desaturase gene from Saussurea involucrata

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Saussurea involucrata Kar. et Kir. tolerates severe abiotic stresses including cold, and the level of membrane fatty acid desaturation is associated with its cold acclimation. We discovered and characterized a full-length cDNA of stearoyl acyl-carrier-protein desaturase (sikSACPD) which encodes a protein consisted of 396 amino acids. A sequence alignment of the SikSACPD protein showed that it shares 91 and 86 % identity with the SACPDs of Carthamus tinctorius and Helianthus annuus, respectively. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR showed that the expression of sikSACPD increased in S. involucrata leaves as the temperature decreased from 20 to −10 °C. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to transform fatty acid biosynthesis 2 (FAB2):SikSACPD and FAB2:FAB2 constructs into tobacco to investigate resistance to a freezing stress and fatty acid composition of the transgenic plants. The FAB2:SikSACPD transgenic plants showed a slightly more resistance to the freezing stress than the FAB2:FAB2 transgenic plants and the wild-type. The proportion of oleic acid (C18:1) in the leaves of SikSACPD transgenic tobacco increased from approximately 5 to 20 % compared with the leaves of non-transgenic tobacco when both were exposed to cold stress treatments. This study demonstrates that the SikSACPD transgene, when expressed in tobacco, conferred a higher cold tolerance in comparison with that observed in non-transgenic tobacco. Thus, this gene may be a candidate for enhancing cold tolerance in other crop plants.

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Abbreviations

FA:

fatty acid

Fv/Fm :

variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence ratio

MDA:

malondialdehyde

PS II:

photosystem II

RT-PCR:

reverse transcriptase — polymerase chain reaction

SACPD:

stearoyl acyl-carrier-protein desaturase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Life Science of Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, 832003, P.R. China

    H. -L. Liu, H. -T. Shen, C. Chen & J. -B. Zhu

  2. Department of Regenerative Medicine, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200065, P.R. China

    H. -L. Liu

  3. CSIRO Plant Industry, PO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    X. -R. Zhou

  4. China ColoredCotton Group Co., Urumqi, 830016, P.R. China

    H. Liu

Authors
  1. H. -L. Liu
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  2. H. -T. Shen
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  3. C. Chen
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  4. X. -R. Zhou
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  5. H. Liu
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  6. J. -B. Zhu
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to H. -L. Liu, H. Liu or J. -B. Zhu.

Additional information

Acknowledgments: This paper resulted from the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC) Support Program (31160049 and 31301058), the Young Talents Program of Xinjiang (2013741100), the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (2011BA001 and 2013cb010). The first two authors equally contributed to this manuscript.

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Liu, H.L., Shen, H.T., Chen, C. et al. Identification of a putative stearoyl acyl-carrier-protein desaturase gene from Saussurea involucrata . Biol Plant 59, 316–324 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-015-0487-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-015-0487-0

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