Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing CsBCATs affect seed germination under abiotic stress conditions

Abstract

We investigated the responses of transgenic Arabidopsis plants that express cucumber branched-chain aminotransferases (CsBCATs) under abiotic or biotic stresses. The expression of CsBCAT3 and CsBCAT7 was dramatically increased by various abiotic treatments. The germination of CsBCAT3- or CsBCAT7-expressing Arabidopsis seeds was increased under salt and dehydration treatments, which was correlated with the increased or decreased expression levels of the germination-responsive genes. Although salicylic acid and jasmonic acid increased CsBCAT2 or CsBCAT7 expression, transgenic Arabidopsis plants that express CsBCAT2 or CsBCAT7 did not show the disease resistance to bacteria or fungus. Our results indicate that the CsBCATs affect seed germination of plants under abiotic stresses.