Transgenic wheat plants expressing an oat arginine decarboxylase cDNA exhibit increases in polyamine content in vegetative tissue and seeds Ludovic Bassie Æ Changfu Zhu Æ Ignacio Romagosa Æ Paul Christou Æ Teresa Capell Received: 1 September 2007 / Accepted: 17 December 2007 / Published online: 4 January 2008 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 Abstract We generated and characterized a trans- genic wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) population expressing constitutively an oat arginine decarboxylase (ADC) cDNA. Transgenic wheat plants expressing the transgene had a significant increase in ADC activity with no concomitant changes in ODC activity. We measured 2-fold increases in putrescine, spermidine and spermine content in leaves of transgenic plants com- pared to wild-type. These plants also exhibited significant increases in the three polyamines in seeds (7-fold putrescine, 2.5-fold spermidine and 1.8-fold spermine). This significant polyamine accumulation was heritable in subsequent generations. In order to characterize molecularly this population we cloned a partial TaADC cDNA. This sequence was used as a probe to ascertain the presence of two distinct ADC transcripts in wheat. Further DNA analyses confirmed the presence of at least two distinct ADC genes in the wheat genome. Our results demonstrate that polyamine levels can be altered in transgenic wheat plants resulting in phenotypically normal and fertile plants. This transgenic wheat population will serve as useful germ- plasm to embark on further in depth studies to ascertain the role of polyamines in abiotic stress responses. Keywords Arginine decarboxylase Á Polyamines Á Transgene expression Á Transgenic wheat Á Wheat ADC genes Abbreviations ADC Arginine decarboxylase As Avena sativa C Control fw Fresh weight Ds Datura stramonium GI Gene index Ms Malus sylvestris var. domestica ODC Ornithine decarboxylase Os Oryza sativa Pa Pinglea antiscorbutica SAM S-adenosylmethionine SAMDC SAM decarboxylase SPDS Spermidine synthase SPMS Spermine synthase TC Tentative consensus TLC Thin layer chromatography Ta Triticum aestivum Introduction The polyamines spermidine and spermine, and their precursor putrescine are ubiquitous in all living organisms and are involved in many diverse L. Bassie Á C. Zhu Á I. Romagosa Á P. Christou Á T. Capell (&) Departament de Produccio Vegetal i Ciencia Forestal, ETSEA, Universitat de Lleida, Avda. Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain e-mail: teresa.capell@pvcf.udl.es 123 Mol Breeding (2008) 22:39–50 DOI 10.1007/s11032-007-9154-2