Elevating vitamin C content via overexpression of myo-inositol oxygenase and l-gulono-1,4-lactone oxidase in Arabidopsis leads to enhanced biomass and tolerance to abiotic stresses

Pedro Pedrosa Mendes, Katherine A. Lisko, Raquel Torres, Rodney S. Harris, Melinda Belisle, Martha M. Vaughan, Berangère Jullian, Boris I. Chevone, Pedro Mendes, Craig L. Nessler, Argelia Lorence

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    l-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is an abundant metabolite in plant cells and tissues. Ascorbate functions as an antioxidant, as an enzyme cofactor, and plays essential roles in multiple physiological processes including photosynthesis, photoprotection, control of cell cycle and cell elongation, and modulation of flowering time, gene regulation, and senescence. The importance of this key molecule in regulating whole plant morphology, cell structure, and plant development has been clearly established via characterization of low vitamin C mutants of Arabidopsis, potato, tobacco, tomato, and rice. However, the consequences of elevating ascorbate content in plant growth and development are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that Arabidopsis lines overexpressing a myo-inositol oxygenase or an l-gulono-1,4-lactone oxidase, containing elevated ascorbate, display enhanced growth and biomass accumulation of both aerial and root tissues. To our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating such a marked positive effect in plant growth in lines engineered to contain elevated vitamin C content. In addition, we present evidence showing that these lines are tolerant to a wide range of abiotic stresses including salt, cold, and heat. Total ascorbate content of the transgenic lines remained higher than those of controls under the abiotic stresses tested. Interestingly, exposure to pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and known inducer of oxidative stress in plants, leads to stunted growth of the aerial tissue, reduction in the number of root hairs, and inhibition of leaf expansion in wild type plants, while these symptoms are less severe in the overexpressers. Our results indicate the potential of this metabolic engineering strategy to develop crops with enhanced biomass, abiotic stress tolerance, and phytoremediation capabilities. © 2013 The Society for In Vitro Biology.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)643-655
    Number of pages12
    JournalIn Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Plant
    Volume49
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Keywords

    • Ascorbic acid
    • Phytoremediation
    • Plant growth
    • Stress tolerance
    • Vitamin C

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