Studies on Cartenoids and Aromatic Components of the Transgenic Flue- cured Tobacco Expressing fps Gene

In order to explore the effect of farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase gene (fps) on the flue- cured tobacco, cartenoids and aromatic components of transgenic tobacco plant lines(K- 4、K- 6、K- 17、K- 35) expressing fps gene of Mentha spicata L. were studied.Cartenoids content and the terpene aromatic components of flue- cured tobacco leaves were determined by GS/MS. Cartenoids content of transgenic tobacco leaves increased greatly compared to that of non- transgenic tobacco plants. The differences also existed among different transgenic lines, and the cartenoids contents of K- 35 lines is the highest . 8 kinds of aromatic components degraded from cartenoids were detected, and the content increased compared to the control. Solanone and neophytadiene were also increased in transgenic lines. This results showed that the expression of foreign fps gene in tobacco could improve the aromatic quality of tobacco leaves by enhancing terpene metabolites.