Evaluation of Limonene synthase gene expression in Peppermint plants under abiotic stresses

Peppermint is a very valuable medicinal plant that has many uses in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and sanitary industries due to the presence of menthol. In the production of menthol, the Limonene synthase gene converts Geranyl Diphosphate to Limonene. Abiotic stresses play an important role in the quality and quantity of menthol. In order to investigate the role of abiotic stresses in decreasing or increasing the gene expression, rhizomes of peppermint were cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium under drought (0-50-100 150 mM mannitol), salinity (0-50-100 mM sodium chloride) and temperature (23, 26 and 29 °C). All experiments were performed based on a completely randomized design with two replications. First, the extraction of RNA and cDNA synthesis was performed for all plants. Real-time PCR method was used to determine the expression of the limonene synthase gene and then the expression of the gene was measured under these stresses. The results showed that the highest expression of the gene was in the treatment of zero mannitol, 100 mM sodium chloride and 23°C. In general, it was concluded that the expression of the limonene synthase gene under the stresses of salinity, drought, and temperature in the peppermint plant is affected. Gene expression is decreasing under drought stress and temperature (with increasing intensity of applied stresses), while in salt stress by increasing the amount of NaCl, the expression of the limonene synthase gene is increased.

کلیدواژه ها:

Abiotic stresses ، Gene expression ، Limonene synthasegene ، Peppermint