Assessment of salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum L.) plants expressing the AUX gene

Transformation of plants using Agrabacterium rhizogenes may affect secondary metabolite production as well as morphological changes. In this study, T-DNA from Ri plasmid in A. rhizogenes carrying pRi15834-PRT35S-GUS was introduced into tobacco leaf segments to initiate development of transformed hairy roots. Plant regeneration from transgenic roots used MS medium, and plants regenerated from transgenic roots were subjected to 300 mM NaCl. Transgenic plants showed higher levels of salt tolerance compared to non-transgenic plants. This could be due to over expression of the AUX gene in transformed hairy roots and plants regenerated from transgenic roots.