Expression of <I>OsNHX</I>1 gene in maize confers salt tolerance and promotes plant growth in the field
2008
Chen, M. | Chen, Q.-J. | Niu, X.-G. | Zhang, R. | Lin, H.-Q. | Xu, C.-Y. | Wang, X. C. | Wang, G.-Y. | Chen, J.
Maize yield is severely affected by soil salinity. In an effort to engineer maize for improved salt tolerance, embryogenic calli of maize were co-bombarded with plasmids containing <I>Oryza sativa</I> Na<sup>+</sup>/H<sup>+</sup> antiporter gene (<I>OsNHX1</I>) and <I>ba</I>r genes. For the molecular analysis of putative transgenic samples, PCR, Southern and Northern blots were carried out. The maize plants over-expressing <I>OsNHX</I>1 accumulated more biomass when grown in the presence of 200mM NaCl in greenhouse conditions. Higher Na<sup>+</sup> and K<sup>+</sup> content was observed in transgenic leaves than in wildtype leaves when treated with 100~200mM NaCl, while the osmotic potential and the proline content in transgenic leaves was lower than in wild-type maize. A field trial revealed that the transgenic maize plants produced higher grain yields than the wild-type plants at the vegetative growth stage. These results demonstrate that the <I>OsNHX1</I> gene was successfully transferred into <I>Zea may</I>s, and the salt-tolerance of transgenic maize was improved by overexpression of the <I>OsNHX1</I> gene.
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