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Increased Chilling Tolerance Following Transfer of a betA Gene Enhancing Glycinebetaine Synthesis in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

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Abstract

A betA gene encoding choline dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli was transformed into cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic cotton plants exhibited improved tolerance to chilling due to accumulation of glycinebetaine (GB). The results of our experiment showed that GB contents of leaves of transgenic lines 1, 3, 4, and 5, both before and after chilling stress, were significantly higher than those of wild-type (WT) plants. At 15°C, transgenic lines 1, 3, 4, and 5 exhibited higher germination capacity as determined by the germination speed and final germination percentage and, displayed less inhibition in seedling shoot growth rate than WT plants. Under chilling stress, transgenic lines 4 and 5 maintained higher relative water content, upper carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation capacity and PSII electron transfer rate, better osmotic adjustment (OA), a lower percentage of ion leakage, and less lipid membrane peroxidation when compared with WT plants. Chilling resistance of the transgenic lines was demonstrated to be positively correlated with GB content under chilling stress. The high levels of GB in transgenic cotton plants might not only protect the integrity of cell membrane from chilling damage, but also be involved in OA which alleviated chilling induced water stress. Moreover, under chilling-stressed conditions, transgenic cotton plants enhanced stomatal conductance, PSII electron transport rate, and further leaf photosynthesis through accumulating high levels of GB.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31172028), the programs involved in research on transgenic plants in China (2011ZX08005-004), and Shandong Province Science and Technology Development Plan (2009GG10009010 and 2010GNC10910). We are grateful to Dr. Yongbin Yan in Tsinghua University for help in GB determination using 1H NMR spectroscopy. We also thank International Science Editing for assistance in language editing of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Shandong University, 27 Shanda Nanlu, **an, Shandong, 250100, China

    Kewei Zhang, Juan Wang, Lijun Lian, Wenju Fan, Ning Guo & Sulian Lv

  2. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Plant Cell Engineering and Germplasm Enhancement, **an, 250100, China

    Kewei Zhang, Juan Wang, Lijun Lian, Wenju Fan, Ning Guo & Sulian Lv

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  1. Kewei Zhang
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Correspondence to Kewei Zhang.

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Zhang, K., Wang, J., Lian, L. et al. Increased Chilling Tolerance Following Transfer of a betA Gene Enhancing Glycinebetaine Synthesis in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Plant Mol Biol Rep 30, 1158–1171 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-012-0433-7

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