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Transgenic tobacco plants expressing atzA exhibit resistance and strong ability to degrade atrazine

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Abstract

Atrazine chlorohydrolase (AtzA) catalyzes hydrolytic dechlorination and can be used in detoxification of atrazine, a herbicide widely employed in the control of broadleaf weeds. In this study, to investigate the potential use of transgenic tobacco plants for phytoremediation of atrazine, atzA genes from Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP and Arthrobacter strain AD1 were transferred into tobacco. Three and four transgenic lines, expressing atzA-ADP and atzA-AD1, respectively, were produced by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Molecular characterization including PCR, RT-PCR and Southern blot revealed that atzA was inserted into the tobacco genome and stably inherited by and expressed in the progenies. Seeds of the T1 transgenic lines had a higher germination percentage and longer roots than the untransformed plants in the presence of 40–150 mg/l atrazine. The T2 transgenic lines grew taller, gained more dry biomass, and had higher total chlorophyll content than the untransformed plants after growing in soil containing 1 or 2 mg/kg atrazine for 90 days. No atrazine residue remained in the soil in which the T2 transgenic lines were grown (except 401), while, in the case of the untransformed plants, 0.91 mg (81.3%) and 1.66 mg (74.1%) of the atrazine still remained in the soil containing 1 and 2 mg/kg of atrazine, respectively, indicating that the transgenic lines could degrade atrazine effectively. The transgenic tobacco lines developed could be useful for phytoremediation of atrazine-contaminated soil and water.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Xiu-Qing Li (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Research Centre) for his helpful review of the manuscript. The research was supported by the R&D Special Projects for Public Welfare Industry of State Oceanic Administration People’s Republic of China (Grant No. 200805044) and the grant of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31070717).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, People’s Republic of China

    Huizhuan Wang, Xiwen Chen, Xuguang Xing, Xiaohua Hao & Defu Chen

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  1. Huizhuan Wang
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  2. Xiwen Chen
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  3. Xuguang Xing
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  4. Xiaohua Hao
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  5. Defu Chen
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Correspondence to Xiwen Chen or Defu Chen.

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Communicated by P. Ozias-Akins.

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Wang, H., Chen, X., Xing, X. et al. Transgenic tobacco plants expressing atzA exhibit resistance and strong ability to degrade atrazine. Plant Cell Rep 29, 1391–1399 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0924-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0924-7

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