Tobacco transformants expressing the Medicago truncatula ornithine aminotransferase cDNA

The Medicago truncatula ornithine aminotransferase cDNA was cloned under the potent constitutive 35S RNA promoter of the cauliflower mosaic virus and transferred into the genome of tobacco Nicotiana tabacum SR1 plants. Transformed tobacco plants grew better in salinity stress, but did not differ in proline content under normal or stress conditions from control plants. It was assumed that the role of ornithine aminotransferase in the molecular mechanisms of stress resistance is not associated with additional proline synthesis.