2005 Volume 55 Issue 3 Pages 311-319
Tetraploid potato cv. Desiree was transformed using an Arabidopsis thaliana stress-inducible promoter rd29A and the DREB1A gene, which confers multiple tolerances to abiotic stresses (e.g., dehydration and elevated soil salinity). Transformed Desiree lines showed a direct correlation between the DREB1A expression levels and the tolerance to salinity. By producing a filial progeny from the transgenic lines which was considered to harbor a single copy of the DREB1A gene, crossed with a non-transgenic cultivar, the genotype at the transgenic locus of these tetrasomic tetraploids was estimated by chi-square test, suggesting the existence of a Simplex mode. The results showed that low-copy heterozygous loci with the DREB1A gene could sustain the expression, and consequently confer a significant tolerance to salinity in tetrasomic tetraploid potatoes.