Aim. There are maize plants of inbred line L-370 (control) and from T4 progeny of plants transformed via in planta Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with LBA4404 strain harboring pBi2E with double-stranded RNA-suppressor of the proline dehydrogenase gene. The free proline and sucrose levels, sucrose/fructose ratio during period of desicca-tion/rehydration were investigated. Methods. Maize T4 progeny and initial plants of L-370 line were cultivated in con-tainers. Variants were tested under short term (4 days) dehydration and after 3.5 hours of rehydration. The free proline and carbohydrates levels were estimated at those times of the experiment. Results. The short-term water deficit did not create pathological changes in plants. But the free proline levels rose in leaves of all variants. At the same time the ami-no acid levels under stress condition in T4 plans were higher than in L-370-plants. After 3.5 hours of rehydration the proline content in control plants decreased and stayed without changes in T4 plans. In T4 plants the carbohydrate meta-bolism systems energy maintained the stability of the sucrose/fructose ratio during the whole time of experiment. Conclusions. The T4 plants high level of water stress tolerance is a possible result of transgene activity.Keywords: Zea mays, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, T4-progeny, short-term water stress, dehydration, proline sucrose.
The relationship of proline content and metabolism on the productivity of maize plants