EXPRESSION OF BACTERIAL PROTEIN-A IN TOBACCO LEADS TO ENHANCED RESISTANCE TO STRESS CONDITIONS

Tobacco is the most commonly used plant for expression of transgenes from a variety of organisms because it can be easily grown and transformed, it provides abundant amounts of fresh tissue and has a well-established cell culture system. As bacterial enzymes can be synthesized in tobacco, here we explore the possibility of in planta expression of staphylococcal protein-A(PA) which is an antibody, an important group among biopharmaceuticals. In our study we have shown that the tobacco plants harboring PA gene could combat the crown gall infection and also effective in resisting abiotic stress conditions. Transgenic plants when subjected to interact with wild variety of Agrobacterium shows its enhanced capability to resist the gall formation. And when transgenic tobacco plants were grown in presence of 200mM NaCl and/or MG(Methylglyoxal) solution, shows their increased tolerance towards salinity stress and high MG stress. So far transgenic tobacco plants are concerned, improvements in the expression of recombinant proteins and their recovery from tobacco may also enhance production and commercial use of this protein.