Poster: Late and Moved Abstracts

Abs # 989: Production of transgenic plants ectopically expressing FePer-1, seed specific 1-Cys peroxiredoxin from buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)

Presenter:	Wells, Tamara E., tewells@eagle.fgcu.edu
Authors	Wells, Tamara E. (A)   Infantado, Nina  (A)   Ueda, Takashi  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): Florida Gulf Coast University

The buckwheat gene, FePer-1, encodes an antioxidant enzyme that belongs to a recently discovered class of enzymes called 1-Cys peroxiredoxins. They are evolutionarily conserved among a broad range of species from bacteria to humans. The active site is thought to be a cysteine residue that is highly conserved among this class of enzymes. The proposed mechanism of the FePer1 enzyme is that it reduces oxygen and sulfur species that become oxidized during desiccation and imbibition periods in seeds. To attain ectopic expression of FePer1 enzyme in plants, FePer1 cDNA was placed under the regulation of the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV35S) gene promoter and its 3’ regulatory sequence. The ectopic expression of FePer-1 will make it possible to test the enzyme’s effect on plant tolerance to various stress conditions including drought. The synthetic FePer1 gene was inserted into pGA482 plasmid vector, and introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation techniques, transgenic buckwheat and Arabidopsis thaliana plants are being produced.