Physiological responses of plants to salinity stress require the coordinated
activation of many genes. Alex San Martín-Davison from Universidad de Talca
in Chile, led a team of scientists and isolated a salt-induced gene from the
roots of the wild
<[www.isaaa.org]
ato> tomato, Solanum chilense, named SchRabGDI1.

Analysis found that the protein from SchRabGDI1 are regulators of the
RabGTPase cycle and play key roles in intracellular vesicular trafficking.
The expression patterns of the gene showed early upregulation in roots and
leaves under salt stress. Expression of SchRabGDI1 in Arabidopsis thaliana
plants resulted in increased
[www.isaaa.org] salt
tolerance. Furthermore, root cells of
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transgenic plants showed higher accumulation of sodium in vacuoles under
salt stress than wild types.

These results suggest that SchRabGDI1 from the salt tolerant species such as
S. chilense can be used for improving salt tolerance in plants

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