AUTHOR=Marco Francisco , Busó Enrique , Carrasco Pedro 

TITLE=Overexpression of SAMDC1 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana increases expression of defense-related genes as well as resistance to Pseudomonas syringae and Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2014.00115

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2014.00115

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>It has been previously described that elevation of endogenous spermine levels in Arabidopsis could be achieved by transgenic overexpression of S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (<italic>SAMDC</italic>) or Spermine synthase (<italic>SPMS</italic>). In both cases, spermine accumulation had an impact on the plant transcriptome, with up-regulation of a set of genes enriched in functional categories involved in defense-related processes against both biotic and abiotic stresses. In this work, the response of <italic>SAMDC1</italic>-overexpressing plants against bacterial and oomycete pathogens has been tested. The expression of several pathogen defense-related genes was induced in these plants as well as in wild type plants exposed to an exogenous supply of spermine. <italic>SAMDC1</italic>-overexpressing plants showed an increased tolerance to infection by <italic>Pseudomonas syringae</italic> and by <italic>Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis</italic>. Both results add more evidence to the hypothesis that spermine plays a key role in plant resistance to biotic stress.</p>