Expression of antioxidant genes can increase cold resistance in tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.)

摘要

Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the important vegetable crops worldwide. It is consumed in fresh as well as in processed form and is a rich source of antioxidants. There are many limiting factors to its production including biotic and abiotic stresses, among which, cold stress is the most important one. For example, tomato from tropical region has virtually no capacity to survive even the slightest freeze. This study focuses on the expression of two genes i.e., Glutaredoxin S17 ( LOC101268063 ) and LEA 25 protein ( NM _ 001309385 .1). The objective of this research was to study the expression of two genes in two commercially grown tomato varieties i.e., Roma and Rio Grande and to check which variety performs well under cold stress. The current research was conducted on seedlings of two tomato varieties i.e., Roma and Rio Grande. Three different cold stress treatments i.e., 4, 10, and 16°C were applied for 10 hours. Treatment 4°C was applied by placing tomato seedlings in fridge while treatment 10 and 16°C were provided in incubators by adjusting the temperature. Gene expression was studied using RT PCR. Results of RT PCR showed that both genes were expressed in cold stress, but differential expression of Glutaredoxin S17 gene was more pronounced at 4°C whereas expression of LEA 25 protein gene was very low in all the samples of different treatments. Furthermore, Glutaredoxin S17 gene expression was more pronounced in Roma variety than Rio Grande. Our findings suggest that tomato plants expressing Glutaredoxin S17 gene could enhance cold stress tolerance. In future, by insertion or overexpression of Glutaredoxin S17 gene, cold stress tolerance could be improved in tomato crop.