Glycinebetaine is an osmoprotectant accumulated by barley (Hordeum vulgare) plants in response to high levels of NaCl, drought, and cold stress. Using barley seedlings in hydroponic culture, we characterized additional inducers of glycinebetaine accumulation. These included other inorganic salts (KCl, MgCl(2), LiCl, and Na(2)SO(4)), oxidants (H(2)O(2) and cumene hydroperoxide), and organic comp...

A hybrid of sweet corn, Zea mays L. (;1720'; Rogers Brothers Seed Co.), was found to be comprised of glycinebetaine-positive and glycinebetaine-deficient individuals in a 1:1 mixture. This phenomenon was traced to segregation for a single, nuclear, dominant gene determining leaf glycinebetaine content within the female inbred parent of this hybrid. Selection for homozygous recessive (glycinebet...

Certain plants accumulate glycinebetaine, a type of osmoprotectant, in response to salinity. Glycinebetaine is synthesized in these plants via the two-step oxidation of choline, and the first step is catalysed by choline mono-oxygenase (CMO; EC 1.14.15.7). Cloned by RT-PCR and 3'-RACE, the cDNA of Atriplex prostrata CMO (ApCMO) is 1669 bp in length and encodes a full-length protein of 438 amino...

Aerial parts of 38 taxa, distributed in 21 genera and all three subfamilies of the Bromeliaceae have been examined for the presence of betaines. Glycinebetaine and trigonelline were isolated from all the plants studied, although the yields of both compounds were low. For glycinebetaine, values (based upon dry weight) varied from 0.0004% for Pitcairnia corallina to 0.087% for Tillandsia usneoide...

Drought stress reduces the yield and production of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.). Tomato does not naturally accumulate glycinebetaine (GB) in the cells under natural conditions. Effects of exogenous glycinebetaine on some morpho-physiological characteristics of Lycopersicum esculentum Mill. cv. PS was evaluated at different levels of drought stress. The experiment was conducted in a fa...

Leaf tissue of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was found to contain prolinebetaine, pipecolatebetaine, hydroxyprolinebetaine, and glycinebetaine. As n-butyl esters, these chemical species exhibit molecular cations at mass/charge ratio (m/z) 200, 214, 216, and 174, respectively, when analyzed by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The underivatized betaines exhibit protonated molecular ions at...

The effects of salinity on growth, water relations, glycinebetaine content, and ion accumulation in the perennial halophyte Atriplex griffithii var. stocksii were determined. The following questions were addressed: (1) What effect does salinity have on growth responses at different ages? (2) Is A. griffithii an ion accumulator? (3) Does A. griffithii accumulate glycinebetaine in response to sal...

Genetically engineered tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) with the ability to synthesis glycinebetaine was established by introducing the BADH gene for betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase from spinach (Spinacia oleracea). The genetic engineering enabled the plants to accumulate glycinebetaine mainly in chloroplasts and resulted in enhanced tolerance to high temperature stress during growth of young seedlin...

Salinity is an important abiotic stress that reduces growth and productivity of different crops. In many agricultural soils cyanobacteria or blue green algae are the prominent inhabitants, where they potentially contribute to improve soil fertility and crop productivity under normal and abiotic stress conditions. Glycinebetaine is an osmoprtectant compound improving plant tolerance to abiotic s...

The photosynthetic oxygen-evolving activity of the photosystem 2 complex, prepared from spinach, was labile when the complex was exposed to high-salt conditions under which the extrinsic proteins were dissociated from the complex. Glycinebetaine prevented the dissociation of the 18-kDa and the 23-kDa extrinsic proteins from the photosystem 2 complex in the presence of 1 M NaCl. It also prevente...