INCREASED PROTEIN-CONTENT IN TRANSGENIC ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA OVER-EXPRESSING NITRATE REDUCTASE-ACTIVITY

Arabidopsis thaliana was engineered to over-express nitrate reductase (NR) by virtue of the light inducible chimeric gene Lhcb13:Nia1*2. Th e transgenic lines obtained displayed NR activity 2-4 times the level in the wild type, depending on the line. While not displaying advantag e with respect to fresh or dry weight, 7-day-old transgenic seedlings did show up to 200% higher protein content than the wild type when gro wn on solid medium. Up to 30% increase in protein content was also obt ained when grown in peat moss for at least 3 weeks. The increase in pr otein content was evident in several protein bands but was most appare nt in that of the large subunit of RuBisCo. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.