Verification of the resistance of a LEA gene from Tamarix expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to abiotic stresses

The role of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins in stress tolerance was examined by using a yeast expression system. LEA protein tolerance to the abotic stresses in plants involved in salt, drought and freezing stresses and additional tolerance to heat, NaHCO3 (salt-alkali) and ultraviolet radiation was also investigated. The transgenic yeast harboring the Tamarix LEA gene (DQ663481) was generated under the control of inducible GAL promoter (pYES2 vector), yeast cells transformed with pYES2 empty vector were also generated as a control. Stress tolerance tests showed that LEA yeast transformants exhibited a higher survival rates than the control transformants under high temperature, NaHCO3, ultraviolet radiation, salt (NaCl), drought and freezing, indicating that the LEA gene is tolerant to these abiotic stresses. These results suggest that the LEA gene is resistant to a wider repertoire of stresses and may play a common role in plant acclimation to the examined stress conditions.