The enzymes glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs, E.C.2.5.1.18) have been associated with detoxification of xenobiotics, limiting oxidative damage and other stress responses in plants. In this study, we report the isolation of a mustard gene, BjGSTF2, homologous to the phi class GSTs and changes in plant growth in vivo and shoot regeneration in vitro were related to GST expression. GST transcripts accumulated differentially in mustard organs, where transcript was most abundant in root. Tissues incubated at high temperature or in the presence of exogenous H2O2, HgCl2, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate, salicylic acid and paraquat upregulated GST expression, whereas spermidine was inhibitory. To investigate the in vivo function of GST, transgenic Arabidopsis thalianaplants expressing sense (GST-S6), antisense (GST-A4) and double-stranded BjGSTF2(GST-DS1) RNAs were generated. GST-S6 was shown to flower two days earlier and was relatively more tolerant to HgCl2 and paraquat, whereas GST-DS1 with least stress tolerance flowered one week later compared to WT and GST-A4. In shoot regeneration response, tissues originated from GST-S6 were highly regenerative, whereas no shoot regeneration was observed in GST-DS1 tissues after 30 days of culture. Results of this study provide the evidence showing that GST plays a role in plant growth and development in vivo and shoot regeneration in vitro.
