Sorbitol synthesis in transgenic tobacco with apple cDNA encoding NADP-dependent sorbitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

The apple (Malus domestica) cDNA encoding NADP-dependent sorbitol-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (S6PDH) was stably integrated and expressed in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. SR1). Expression of the cDNA in either a sense or antisense orientation was accomplished using cauliflower mosaic virus regulatory sequences (CaMV35S). Sorbitol synthesis was confirmed by gas-chromatography-mass-spectroscopy (GC-MS). Sorbitol concentration in the leaves of the transgenic plants expressing the sense orientation varied from 186 to 446 nmol (g fr wt)-1. The concentration positively correlates with S6PDH activity in leaves. Neither sorbitol nor S6PDH activity was detected in the extracts of nontransformed tobacco or transgenic tobacco expressing the antisense orientation. These results provide key genetic evidence that S6PDH expression is sufficient for the synthesis of sorbitol in tobacco, implicating it as a key enzyme in the sorbitol biosynthetic pathway in apple and perhaps other members of the woody Rosaceae.