Silencing a Gibberellin-Deactivating Enzyme Enhances Plant Growth
January 29, 2010| |
Gibberellins (GA) are phytohormones that play important roles in key developmental processes such as stem elongation, cell division, seed germination and flowering. Biosynthetic inhibitors of gibberellin are widely used to enhance crop growth. Enhancing crop growth is one of the major objectives of the fiber, pulp, wood and biomass product industries. A team of researchers from the Tel Aviv University in Israel showed how silencing an enzyme that deactivates gibberellin in tobacco model plants results in a dramatic improvement of their growth characteristics. Details of their study appear in a paper published by the Plant Biotechnology Journal.
The team specifically targeted the gibberellin deactivating GA 2-oxidase, which accumulates as a result of over-expression GA 20-oxidase. GA 20-oxidase catalyzes the rate limiting step of the gibberellin biosynthetic pathway. The GA 2-oxidase silenced lines grew faster and taller than lines over-expressing GA 20-oxidase, making GA 2-oxidase silencing more profitable for the wood and fiber industries.
Download the paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7652.2009.00480.x
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