TRANSGENIC EXPRESSION OF YEAST CASEIN KINASE 1 ISOFORM YCK2 AS A MEANS OF CONFERRING SALT TOLERANCE TO COTTON

摘要

The yeast casein kinase 1 isoform Yck2 is an enzyme that, when overexpressed, acts as a suppressor of salinity intolerance. Although there is ample evidence that salt stress resistance in plants is multifactoral, we advanced the hypothesis that expression of Yck2 could confer a degree of salt tolerance in recipient plants. To test this hypothesis, we have genetically transformed cotton callus with a plasmid encoding a GFP fusion to Yck2. Transformed cotton callus tissue shows increased salt tolerance when grown on media containing 150mM NaCl, and transformed cells show the presence of a GFP-Yck2 fusion protein at the cell periphery. We are currently examining the growth performance of transformed tissue on saltamended growth media.