Scientists Introduce Gene for Polyamine Accumulation to Produce Drought Tolerant Cotton Varieties

Developing drought tolerant Egyptian cotton varieties is necessary to expand the hectarage amidst shortage of water in the Nile valley. One of the strategies to produce plants with multi-stress tolerance is by overexpression of S-adenosyl methionine decarboxylase (SAMDC) gene which codes for the biosynthesis of polyamines, an organic polycation that triggers plant growth and development to adaptation toward abiotic stress. This strategy was used by Osama Momtaz of the Agriculture Research Center, Giza and colleagues in their work. SAMDC gene was isolated from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and then genetically engineered into Egyptian cotton varieties Giza 88 and Giza 90 through particle bombardment.

The transgenic plants were subjected to different levels of drought and the accumulation of spermine, a type of polyamine, was detected and compared with the controls. To confirm gene expression in the transgenic plants, they used RT-PCR analysis which amplified the DNA. Then the gene integration was confirmed through Southern blot analysis. Results showed that there are high levels of spermine in the transgenic varieties, which is the main contributor in increasing the plants' tolerance to drought.

Read the complete research article at http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/gmcrops/article/13779/.