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Over-expression of ThpI from Choristoneura fumiferana enhances tolerance to cold in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Thermal hysteresis proteins (Thps) known as antifreeze proteins for their antifreeze activity, depress the freezing point of water below the melting point in many polar marine fishes, terrestrial arthropods and plants. For the purpose of breeding cold-resistant plants, we designed to introduce the Thp gene into the plants. The physiological and biochemical effect of high-lever expression of the modified Choristoneura fumiferana Thp (ThpI) in Arabidopsis thaliana plants was analyzed. Under low temperature stress, the ThpI transgenic plants exhibited stronger growth than wild-type plants. The elevated cold tolerance of the ThpI over-expressing plants was confirmed by the changes of electrolyte leakage activity, malonyldialdehyde and proline contents. These results preliminarily showed that the Thp possibly be used to enhance the low temperature-tolerant ability of plants.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Shanghai and National Natural Science Foundation (30670179, 30800602, 08ZR1417200); 863 Program (2006AA10Z117, 2006AA06Z358, 2008AA10Z401); Shanghai Project for ISTC (08540706500); The Key Project Fund of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Agriculture (No. 2008-7-5) and Shanghai Rising-Star Program (08QH14021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agro-Biotechnology Research Center, Biotechnology Research Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 2901 Beidi Road, 201106, Shanghai, China

    Bo Zhu, Ai-Sheng Xiong, Ri-He Peng, Xiao-Fen Jin & Quan-Hong Yao

  2. College of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, Shanghai, China

    Bo Zhu

  3. College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 210095, Nanjing, China

    Jing Xu

  4. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, China

    Xiu-Rong Meng

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  1. Bo Zhu
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  2. Ai-Sheng Xiong
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Correspondence to Quan-Hong Yao.

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Zhu, B., Xiong, AS., Peng, RH. et al. Over-expression of ThpI from Choristoneura fumiferana enhances tolerance to cold in Arabidopsis. Mol Biol Rep 37, 961–966 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9759-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9759-0

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