Morpho-physiological investigations in transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) over expressing OsRGLP1 gene

Abstract

The OsRGLP1 gene was overexpressed under the control of CaMV 35S promoter in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transgene expression was validated using RT-qPCR (real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction) in the transgenic plants. Noticeable morpho-physiological traits, higher SOD activity, and elevated histological H2O2 were manifested by transgenic tomato lines. An increase in total chlorophyll and relative water content (RWC) in the leaves of transgenic lines was noted. The electrolytic leakage/conductivity (EC) in leaves of transgenic lines was lower than the control. The transgenic tomato lines showed dwarf phenotypic features in vegetative and floral traits. Interestingly, the vascular cambium regions in cross sections of stem showed secondary growth in radial symmetry. The transgenic lines also produced higher density and diversity of trichomes. The differences observed in transgenic lines are quite interesting which need to be further explored referring to the functional aspects of the transgene with reference to stress.