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Engineering of ubiquinone biosynthesis using the yeast coq2 gene confers oxidative stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco
Author(s) -
Ohara Kazuaki,
Kokado Yoshimasa,
Yamamoto Hirobumi,
Sato Fumihiko,
Yazaki Kazufumi
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-313x.2004.02246.x
Subject(s) - endoplasmic reticulum , yeast , transgene , mitochondrial respiratory chain , biosynthesis , biochemistry , oxidative stress , mitochondrion , respiratory chain , biology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , gene
Summary Ubiquinone (UQ), an electron carrier in the respiratory chain ranging from bacteria to humans, shows antioxidative activity in vitro , but its physiological role in vivo is not yet clarified in plants. UQ biosynthesis was modified by overexpressing the yeast gene coq2 , which encodes p ‐hydroxybenzoate:polyprenyltransferase, to increase the accumulation of UQ‐6 in yeast and UQ‐10 in tobacco. The yeast and tobacco transgenic lines showed about a three‐ and six‐fold increase in UQ, respectively. COQ2 polypeptide, the localization of which was forcibly altered to the endoplasmic reticulum, had the same or a greater effect as mitochondria‐localized COQ2 on the increase in UQ in both the yeast and tobacco transformants, indicating that the UQ intermediate is transported from the endoplasmic reticulum to the mitochondria. Plants with a high UQ level are more resistant to oxidative stresses caused by methyl viologen or high salinity. This is attributable to the greater radical scavenging ability of the transgenic lines when compared with the wild type.