GM Mulberry with Increased Salinity and Water Stress Tolerance

Mulberry is important for the sericulture industry in India. It is also being extensively used in agroforestry and horticulture programs. Development of mulberry varieties suitable for different agricultural and climatic conditions is important for maintaining the silk production industry in the country, which is the world’s second largest. By inserting the gene hva1 from barley, plant biologists from the University of New Delhi successfully obtained mulberry trees with increased tolerance to salinity and dehydration stress. The gene encodes a group of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins, known to be expressed in seeds and drought-stressed tissues as cellular protectants.

Under stress conditions, the transgenic mulberries were found to have greater cellular membrane stability, photosynthetic yield and water use efficiency as compared to their non-transgenic counterparts. From the study, researchers were able to prove that LEA maintains chloroplast and cell membrane integrity during osmotic stress. Bio-assays show that the recombinant HVA1 does not exert any deleterious effect to silkworm larvae and cocoon; silk yields were also not compromised.

Read the paper published by the journal Transgenic Research at http://www.springerlink.com/content/a2x4775t22614315/fulltext.pdf Non subscribers can read the abstract at http://www.springerlink.com/content/a2x4775t22614315/?p=2de599a3be144a4a979156c69cb782d8&pi=6