Enhancing freezing tolerance of Brassica napus L. by overexpression of a stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene (SAD) from Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. (July 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peng, Dan; Zhou, Bo; Jiang, Yueqiao; Tan, XiaoFeng; Yuan, DeYi; Zhang, Lin
• Is Part Of: Plant science. Volume 272(2018)
• Page Start: 32
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2018-07
• Subjects: Freezing tolerance -- Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. -- Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase -- Unsaturated fatty acid; Botany -- Periodicals; Botanique -- Périodiques; 580
• DOI: 10.1016/j.plantsci.2018.03.028
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-9452

Abstract

Highlights: Increased the freezing tolerance of Brassica napus L. by overexpression of SAD from Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. The fatty acid of C18:2 and C18:3 altered when SsSAD transgenic B. napus L. exposed to cold stress. Abstract: Sapium sebiferum (L.) Roxb. is an important woody oil tree and traditional herbal medicine in China. Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase (SAD) is a dehydrogenase enzyme that plays a key role in the transformation of saturated fatty acids into unsaturated fatty acids in oil; these fatty acids greatly influence the freezing tolerance of plants. However, it remains unclear whether freezing tolerance can be regulated by the expression level of SsSAD in S . sebiferum L. Our research indicated that SsSAD expression in S . sebiferum L. increased under freezing stress. To further confirm this result, we constructed a pEGAD - SsSAD vector and transformed it into B . napus L. W10 by Agrobacterium tumefaciens- mediated transformation. Transgenic plants that overexpressed the SsSAD gene exhibited significantly higher linoleic (18:2) and linolenic acid (18:3) content and advanced freezing tolerance. These results suggest that SsSAD overexpression in B . napus L. can increase the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as linoleic (18:2) and linolenic acid (18:3), which are likely pivotal in improving freezing tolerance in B . napus L. plants. Thus, SsSAD overexpression could be useful in the production of freeze-tolerant varieties of B . napus L.