The Suaeda liaotungensis kitag betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase gene improves salt tolerance of transgenic maize mediated with minimum linear length of DNA fragment

In this research we established a particular vector-free and marker-free plant transformation system of maize to overcome the obstacles of biosafety limits. The BADH gene was introduced into maize by pollen-tube pathway, using the principle of minimum linear length of the transformation element, which was composed of only the BADH gene, expression regulatory sequence (35S CAMV promoter, NOS terminator), and T-DNA border sequence at both sides. Twenty-seven of 2076 transformed samples were positive in PCR amplification and the PCR positive rate of T₁ generation was 1.3%. Further Southern blotting results indicated that the BADH gene was integrated into maize genome. Transgenic lines of progeny were examined for tolerance to NaCl by induced salt stress with 250 mM NaCl Hoagland solution. After 15 days of treatment, 73.9–100% of the transgenic seedlings survived and grew well, whereas most wild-type seedlings wilted and showed loss of chlorophyll. Only 8.9% of the wild-type plants survived but gradually died after salt stress. The electrical conductivity of the transgenic line of progeny after salt stress was lower than wild type. The transgenic progeny had higher glycinebetaine and Chlorophyll content than wild type after salt stress.