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Over expression of TaFer gene from Tamarix androssowii improves iron and drought tolerance in transgenic Populus tomentosa

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Abstract

Ferritin, a universal intracellular protein, can store large amounts of iron and improve plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stress. In this study, a ferritin gene (TaFer) from Tamarix androssowii Litv. was transferred into Populus tomentosa Carr. cv ‘BJR01’ via Agrobacterium. Six independent transgenic lines were obtained with a tolerance to kanamycin and three were randomly selected for further analysis. The PCR and RT-PCR results indicate that the TaFer gene had been integrated into the poplar genome. The effect of the gene on abiotic stress tolerance was tested, and the results show that transgenic plants improve growth, had higher chlorophyll and lower MDA contents, and higher relative electrical conductivity, fewer changes of SOD and POD activities, higher iron content, higher root ferric reductase activity and lower levels of ROS accumulation and cell death in response to drought, Fe-insufficient or Fe-excess tolerance. These results indicate that the TaFer gene can improve abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic Populus tomentosa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, People’s Republic of China

    Bo Zhao, Jingli Yang, Wenjing Yao, Boru Zhou & Tingbo Jiang

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, 150040, People’s Republic of China

    Bo Zhao

  3. Research Center on Life Sciences and Environmental Sciences, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, 150076, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Zheng

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  1. Bo Zhao
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  2. Jingli Yang
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  3. Wenjing Yao
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  4. Boru Zhou
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  5. Wei Zheng
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  6. Tingbo Jiang
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Correspondence to Tingbo Jiang.

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Project funding: The work was supported by Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (2013AA102701) and Excellent Creative Talents Supporting Program of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine (2012RCQ24).

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Corresponding editor: Tao Xu.

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Zhao, B., Yang, J., Yao, W. et al. Over expression of TaFer gene from Tamarix androssowii improves iron and drought tolerance in transgenic Populus tomentosa. J. For. Res. 30, 171–181 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0625-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-018-0625-6

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