Delayed Leaf Senescence in Tobacco Plants Transformed with tmr, a Gene for Cytokinin Production in Agrobacterium

The aim of this study was to investigate whether enhanced levels of endogenous cytokinins could influence plant development, particularly leaf senescence. Tobacco plants were transformed with the Agrobacterium tumefaciens gene tmr, under the control of the soybean heat shock promoter HS6871. This gene encodes the enzyme isopentenyl transferase, which catalyzes the initial step in cytokinin biosynthesis. After heat shock, the cytokinin level increased greatly and the level of tmr mRNA, undetectable at 20[deg]C, rose and remained high for up to 8 hours. The levels of cytokinin and tmr mRNA were substantially lower by 24 hours. Transformed plants grown at 20[deg]C were shorter, had larger side shoots, and remained green for longer than untransformed plants. The differences were more pronounced after several heat shocks of whole plants or defined areas of leaves. Our results demonstrated that plant morphology and leaf senescence can be manipulated by changing the endogenous level of cytokinins.