Modification of non-protein thiols contents in transgenic tobacco plants producing bacterial enzymes of cysteine biosynthesis pathway.

Conditions of achieving the maximal accumulation of sulfhydryl metabolites in the leaves of tobacco were explored. Simultaneous production of bacterial O-acetylserine (thiol)-lyase and serine acetyltransferase resulted in the increased thiols contents as compared to single transformants and controls. However, leaf discs feeding experiments differently affected thiols concentration in different plant groups and suggested that the most promising strategy to obtain plants with a high level of non-protein thiol-containing compounds might be sulfate feeding to plants overproducing serine acetyltransferase.