THE PRODUCTION OF TRANSGENIC TOBACCO PLANTS OVEREXPRESSING OAK DEHYDRIN GENE

Abstract

This work is focused on the production of transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing the oak dehydrin gene AY607707.1. Transgenic tobacco plants were generated via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The T-DNA of the plant transformation vector pMK contained the dehydrin gene fused to the constitutive double dCaMV35S promoter and the selectable neomycin phosphotransferase gene. The sequence of the dehydrin gene was isolated from Quercus robur by PCR approach and cloned. The constructed binary vector pMK was introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 and used in the transformation experiments. Transgenic plants were generated with an efficiency of 32.7%. PCR analyses confirmed the transgenic nature of regenerated T₀ plants. The expression of the oak dehydrin gene was proved by RT-PCR and quantified by qPCR analyses.