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Over-expression of a Rab family GTPase from phreatophyte Prosopis juliflora confers tolerance to salt stress on transgenic tobacco

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Abstract

Plant growth and productivity are adversely affected by various abiotic and biotic stress factors. In our previous study, we used Prosopis juliflora, an abiotic stress tolerant tree species of Fabaceae, as a model plant system for isolating genes functioning in abiotic stress tolerance. Here we report the isolation and characterization of a Rab family GTPase from P. juliflora (Pj Rab7) and the ability of this gene to confer salt stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco. Northern analysis for Pj Rab7 in P. juliflora leaf tissue revealed up-regulation of this gene under salt stress under the concentrations and time points analyzed. Pj Rab7 transgenic tobacco lines survived better under conditions of 150 mM NaCl stress compared to control un-transformed plants. Pj Rab7 transgenic plants were found to accumulate more sodium than control plants during salt stress. The results of our studies could be used as a starting point for generation of crop plants tolerant to abiotic stress.

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out with a grant from Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. Ms. Suja George is a Senior Research Fellow of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Molecular Biology, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani Institutional Area, Chennai, 600 113, India

    Suja George & Ajay Parida

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  1. Suja George
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  2. Ajay Parida
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Correspondence to Ajay Parida.

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George, S., Parida, A. Over-expression of a Rab family GTPase from phreatophyte Prosopis juliflora confers tolerance to salt stress on transgenic tobacco. Mol Biol Rep 38, 1669–1674 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0278-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0278-9

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