Genetic transformation and functional characterization of Chimonanthus praecox SAMT gene in tobacco

In order to investigate the biological function of Chimonanthus praecox SAMT gene, CpSAMT was introduced into tobacco through Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation. Among 16 independent transgenic lines obtained, 15 lines were positive, which was revealed by PCR and further confirmed by RT-PCR. Further analysis showed that transgenic plants were indistinguishable from untransformed controls in terms of plant size, leaf morphology, flower color, petal size and flowering time. In addition, HS-SPME-GC-MS was employed to analyse the components of flower flavor. We found that the content of benzyl alcohol, hexenol, linalool, caryophyllene and benzaldehyde in transgenic CpSAMT plants increased, while that of methyl salicylate and methyl benzoate was undetectable compared with non-transgenic controls.