Influence of yeast-derived invertase gene expression in potato plants on membrane lipid peroxidation at low temperature

Tolerance to chilling was compared in potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L., cv. Désirée) transformed with a yeast-derived invertase gene under the control of the B33 class 1 tuber-specific promoter and with the proteinase inhibitor II leader peptide sequence providing for the apoplastic enzyme localization (the B33-inv plants) and potato plants transformed only with a reporter gene (the control plants) under in vitro conditions. The total activities of acid and alkaline invertases and contents of sugars in the B33-inv plants exceeded those in the control plants. The exposures at low temperature produced a significant less lipid peroxidation activity in the B33-inv plants, as compared to the control. The authors presume that the B33-inv plants acquire a higher tolerance to low temperatures apparently due to the changes in sugar ratio produced by the yeast invertase.