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A tomato endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-type omega-3 fatty acid desaturase (LeFAD3) functions in early seedling tolerance to salinity stress

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Abstract

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Transgenic tomato plants overexpressing LeFAD3 sense and antisense sequences were generated. Salt stress suppressed the growth of WT and antisense plants to a higher extent than that in sense plants.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the role of the LeFAD3-encoding ER-type omega-3 fatty acid desaturase in salt tolerance in tomato plants. We created transgenic tomato plants by overexpressing its sense and antisense sequences under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Based on the results of northern and western blotting as well as quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, sense plants expressed more desaturase than wild-type (WT) plants, whereas antisense plants expressed less desaturase than WT. Salt stress suppressed the growth of both WT and antisense plants to a higher extent than that in sense plants, which can be attributed to the fact that sense plants performed better in maintaining the integrity of the membrane system, as revealed by electron microscopy. The concomitant increase in superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1) and ascorbate peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7) may have alleviated the photoinhibition caused by the increased level of ROS in sense plants. Our results suggest that LeFAD3 overexpression can enhance the tolerance of early seedlings to salinity stress.

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Abbreviations

DAs:

Dienoic fatty acids

DGDG:

Digalactosyldiglycerol

ER:

Endoplasmic reticulum

LeFAD3:

Lycopersicon esculentum omega-3 fatty acid desaturase

MGDG:

Monogalactosyl- diacylglycerol

PC:

Phosphatidylcholine

PE:

Phosphatidylethanolamine

PFD:

Photon flux density

PG:

Phosphatidylglycerol

PVDF:

Polyvinylidene fluoride

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

SQDG:

Sulfoquinovosyldiglycerol

TAs:

Trienoic fatty acids

18:1:

Oleic acid

18:2:

Linoleic acid

18:3:

Linolenic acid

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31101554), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang province (Y3110340 and LQ12C15002), Zhejiang Higher School Innovative Research Team (T200916), “Three Rural six party” Agricultural science and technology cooperation projects of Zhejiang Province (113-2045210160), Vegetable Innovation Group Fund of Zhejiang Province (2009R50026), and Cucurbit Vegetable Innovation Strategic Alliance Fund of Zhejiang Province (No. 20101107).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture and Food Science, Research Center of Bio-Breeding Industry, The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin’an, 311300, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Hua-Sen Wang, Chao Yu & Zhu-Jun Zhu

  2. College of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, 271018, People’s Republic of China

    Xian-Feng Tang, Na-Na Ma & Qing-Wei Meng

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  1. Hua-Sen Wang
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  2. Chao Yu
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  3. Xian-Feng Tang
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  4. Zhu-Jun Zhu
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  5. Na-Na Ma
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  6. Qing-Wei Meng
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Hua-Sen Wang or Qing-Wei Meng.

Additional information

Communicated by X. S. Zhang.

H.-S. Wang and C. Yu contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, HS., Yu, C., Tang, XF. et al. A tomato endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-type omega-3 fatty acid desaturase (LeFAD3) functions in early seedling tolerance to salinity stress. Plant Cell Rep 33, 131–142 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-013-1517-z

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