Localization of activity of ASY1, TA29 and NTM19 promoters in tomato

Abstract

The global warming has been affecting crop production in many countries. Studies demonstrate that the reduced production in heat stressed plants has as a main cause the impairment of pollen development. Our hypothesis is that pollen development can be protected against heat stress. To do so, tissue specific promoters were tested regarding their localization to be used to overexpress members of a family of transcription factors that orchestrate the cell response front the heat, the Heat Shock Factors (HSFs). The HSFs activate the transcription of Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs), which play many roles in protecting cells against heat. During heat stress, meiosis, microspore and mature stages of pollen development are differentially affected and therefore tissue specific promoters are required for being linked to the HSF which will be overexpressed. As in Arabidopsis or tobacco ASY1, TA29 and NTM19 promoters are active in pollen mother cell, tapetum and microspore respectively. In this work, we localized the activity of these three promoters in tomato plants through the histochemical GUS assay. Our results indicate that TA29 and NTM19 promoters are active in tapetum and the activity of ASY1 promoter couldn’t be reported.