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Generation of transgenic wheat plants producing high levels of the osmoprotectant proline

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Abstract

Plasmid DNA (pBI-P5CS), containing the selectable neomycin phosphotransferase-II `npt II' gene for kanamycin resistance and the reporter β-glucuronidase `gus' gene as well as the Vigna aconitifolia Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase `P5CS' cDNA that encodes enzymes required for the biosynthesis of proline, was delivered into wheat plants using Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer via indirect pollen system. Southern, northern and western blot analysis demonstrated that the foreign gene had been transferred, expressed and integrated into wheat chromosomal DNA. Salinity test indicated that proline acts as an osmoprotectant and its overproduction in transgenic wheat plants results in the increased tolerance to salt.

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Sawahel, W.A., Hassan, A.H. Generation of transgenic wheat plants producing high levels of the osmoprotectant proline. Biotechnology Letters 24, 721–725 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015294319114

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