Increased Endogenous Methyl Jasmonate Altered Leaf and Root Development in Transgenic Soybean Plants

Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a plant-signaling molecule that regulates plant morphogenesis and expression of plant defense genes. To determine the role of the endogenous MeJA levels in the development of plants, transgenic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] plants harboring NTR1 gene encoding for jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase (JMT) were produced. The activation of NTR1 gene expression resulted in the production of MeJA. Overexpression of the NTR1 cDNA under the regulation of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter in the transgenic soybean plants was confirmed using Northern blot analysis. The significant differences in leaf and root growth patterns were observed between the transgenic plants and the wild-type plants. The leaves of the transgenic plants were slightly elongated in length but dramatically narrowed in width compared with the nontransformed wild-type plants. In addition, elongation of primary root was inhibited in the overexpressed transgenic soybean plantlets, whereas the development of lateral root was stimulated relative to the nontransformed plants. The leaves of the transgenic plants showed 2–2.5-fold higher levels of MeJA than the control plants. These results indicated that the increased endogenous levels of MeJA is involved in regulation of morphogenesis in soybean plants.