Improved germination under osmotic stress of tobacco plants overexpressing a cell wall peroxidase

The cell wall is a fundamental component in the response of plants to environmental changes. To directly assess the role of the cell mall we have increased the expression and activity of a cell wall associated peroxidase (TPX2), an enzyme involved in modifying cell wall architecture. Overexpression of TPX2 had no effect on nild-type development, but greatly increased the germination rate under high salt or osmotic stress, Differential scanning calorimetry showed that transgenic seeds were able to retain more water available for germination than wild-type seeds, Thermoporometry calculations indicated that this could be due to a lower;er mean pore size in the malls of transgenic seeds, Therefore, the higher capacity of transgenic seeds in retaining water could result in higher germination rates in conditions where the availability of water is restricted. (C) 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.