Source: CropBiotech Update

Results of a study on transgenic tobacco indicated that a protein called HaHSFA9 from a sunflower gene could increase the resistance of seeds to deterioration and increase longevity. The protein also helps in improving seed germinability in the field under high soil temperature.

Researchers at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Spain believe that there are similar genes to HaHSFA9 in other monocot and dicot plant species. Once found, these genes may be transferred to major crops to increase the longevity of their seeds, or to reduce the negative effects of high temperatures during seed formation.

The open access article is available at
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/142/3/1102.

Improved Resistance to Controlled Deterioration in Transgenic Seeds
Pilar Prieto-Dapena, Raúl Castaño, Concepción Almoguera and Juan Jordano*
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 41080 Seville, Spain

ABSTRACT

We show that seed-specific overexpression of the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) HaHSFA9 heat stress transcription factor (HSF) in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) enhances the accumulation of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Among these proteins were HSP101 and a subset of the small HSPs, including proteins that accumulate only during embryogenesis in the absence of thermal stress. Levels of late embryogenesis abundant proteins or seed oligosaccharides, however, were not affected. In the transgenic seeds, a high basal thermotolerance persisted during the early hours of imbibition. Transgenic seeds also showed significantly improved resistance to controlled deterioration in a stable and transgene-dependent manner. Furthermore, overexpression of HaHSFA9 did not have detrimental effects on plant growth or development, including seed morphology and total seed yield. Our results agree with previous work tentatively associating HSP gene expression with phenotypes important for seed longevity. These findings might have implications for improving seed longevity in economically important crops.

Source: http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/142/3/1102