Full Length Research Article ENHANCED SALT-MEDIATED OXIDATIVE STRESS TOLERANCE IN TRANSGENIC TOBACCO OVEREXPRESSING ACEROLA GDP-L-GALACTOSE PHOSPHORYLASE AND PHOSPHOMANNOMUTASE GENES

Ascorbate (AsA) plays an important role in stress responses in plants as one of the highly abundant metabolites that scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). Under salt stress conditions, transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing acerola (Malpighia glabra) GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase (GGP) and phosphomannomutase (PMM) genes accumulated higher amount of AsA, exhibited reduced levels of lipid peroxidation, and maintained higher levels of chlorophyll compared with control plants. These results indicate that overexpressing of acerola GGP and PMM confers greater protection for transgenic plants under oxidative stress conditions mediated by salt.