Degradation of oxalic acid by transgenic oilseed rape plants expressing oxalate oxidase

Abstract

Oxalic acid is thought to have a primary role in the pathogenicity of several plant pathogens, notably Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. A gene coding for the enzyme oxalate oxidase was isolated from barley roots and introduced into oilseed rape as a means of degrading oxalic acid in vivo. This report describes the production of several transgenic plants of oilseed rape and the characterisation of these plants by Southern, Western and enzyme activity assays. Plants were shown to contain an active oxalate oxidase enzyme and were tolerant of exogenously supplied oxalic acid.