Genetic Modification of Tomatoes for Increased Stress Tolerance via HSP101 Gene Integration
- Publicado
- Servidor
- Preprints.org
- DOI
- 10.20944/preprints202510.1896.v1
Climate change poses a serious threat to global food security, as increasing environmental stresses adversely affect plant growth and crop yield. Key abiotic stresses impacting agricultural productivity include heat stress, drought stress, salinity, and oxidative stress, all of which disrupt cellular homeostasis and protein stability in plants. In this study, we propose a novel genetic engineering approach to enhance stress tolerance in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) by introducing the HSP101 (Heat Shock Protein 101) coding sequence. HSP101 is an AAA+ molecular chaperone essential for both basal and acquired thermotolerance in plants. It prevents protein misfolding and aggregation, providing cross-protection against multiple abiotic stresses. Here we describe a genetic modification strategy to introduce the HSP101 gene into tomato using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. This work aims to generate transgenic tomato lines with improved resilience to high temperatures and other environmental stresses. Subsequent phases will include molecular confirmation of gene integration and evaluation of transgenic plants under controlled stress conditions. The expected outcome is the development of tomato lines with improved resilience to high temperature, drought, and oxidative stress. This ongoing work aims to contribute to the creation of climate-resilient crops and to support sustainable agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid regions.