Abstract
Glycine betaine (GB) is an osmoprotectant that protects plants from abiotic stress. GB is biosynthesized by choline dehydrogenation/oxidation and glycine methylation. The latter pathway involves glycine as a substrate and produces GB via successive methylation of glycine by two different N-methyltransferase enzymes; glycine sarcosine methyltransferase (GSMT), and sarcosine dimethylglycine methyltransferase (SDMT). In this study, Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation was used to produce transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L., cv. Nipponbare) plants containing ApGSMT and ApDMT genes isolated from Aphanothece halophytica. The co-expression of both ApGSMT and ApDMT transgenes resulted in a significant increase of GB biosynthesis and enhanced tolerance to salt and cold stresses in the transgenic rice plants. These results demonstrate the potential of bioengineering for glycine N-methyltransferase genes in crop plants tolerance to abiotic stress.
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