Abstract
Low temperature is an environmental stress factor that is always been applied in research on improving crop growth, productivity, and quality of crops. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) play an important role in cold tolerance, so its genetic manipulation of the PUFA contents in crops has led to the modification of cold sensitivity. In this study, we over-expressed an ω-3 fatty acid desaturase from Glycine max (GmFAD3A) drove by a maize ubiquitin promoter in rice. Compared to the wild type (ZH11), ectopic expression of GmFAD3A increased the contents of lipids and total PUFAs. Seed germination rates in GmFAD3A transgenic rice were enhanced under low temperature (15 °C). Moreover, cold tolerance and survival ratio were significantly improved in GmFAD3A transgenic seedlings. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content in GmFAD3A transgenic rice was lower than that in WT under cold stress, while proline content obviously increased. Meanwhile, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), hydroperoxidase (CAT), and peroxidase (POD) increased substantially in GmFAD3A transgenic rice after 4 h of cold treatment. Taken together, our results suggest that GmFAD3A can enhances cold tolerance and the seed germination rate at a low temperature in rice through the accumulation of proline content, the synergistic increase of the antioxidant enzymes activity, which finally ameliorated the oxidative damage.
Highlights
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important food crop that feeds more than half of the world’s population [1]
To determine whether ectopic expression of GmFAD3A had an effect on the levels of cold stress-related factors, we tested these factors in WT and GmFAD3A-OE seedlings under cold stress and under normal conditions
The above results showed that ectopic expression of GmFAD3A in rice could promote the accumulation of free proline, leading to a decline in the content of MDA relative to wild type under cold stress
Summary
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important food crop that feeds more than half of the world’s population [1]. The level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are essential for cold acclimation and is essential for the regulation of cholesterol synthesis and transportation for the maintenance of cellular membranes [7,8]. Regulating the expression of the PtFAD2 enzymes could potentially alter PUFAs content in membrane lipids [7]. A tobacco FAD3 expressed in rice could increase α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3) level up to 2.5-fold [14]. The ectopic expression of GmFAD3A enhances cold stress tolerance in rice, including seed germination rates at low temperature (15 ◦C) and cold tolerance at the seeding stage. We evaluated lipid content, the malondialdehyde (MDA), proline content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and peroxidase (POD) activities to explain its cold stress tolerance
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