Genetically Engineering Plants with High Levels of Methyl Jasmonate Could Redcued Oxidative Stresses

Oxidative stress arises from an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and physiological antioxidant capability. OS play important roles as secondary messengers in many intracellular signaling cascades aimed at cell survival and maintaining the cell in homeostasis with its immediate environment. At higher levels, they can cause indiscriminate damage to biological molecules, leading to loss of function and even celldeath. Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) is a fragrant volatile compound and has proven to be distributed ubiquitously in the plant kingdom. Methyl jasmonate and its free-acid jasmonic acid (JA) – collectively referred to as jasmonates – are important cellular regulators involved in diverse developmental processes and activate plant defense mechanisms. In the past few years exogenous methyl jasmonate treatment has been studied and applied in many cases. Recently several groups have reported that methyl jasmonate treatment reduces oxidative stress in plants and also exhibits anti-pathogenic activity. As the main use of pesticides is their actions on pathogens especially insects, methyl jasmonate could be introduced as an alternative to pesticides. This natural growth regulator activates plant defense mechanisms in response to insects and pathogens without any environmental pollution or hazard for human health. Generation of transgenic plants with high levels of jasmonates could decrease the risks of oxidative stress in plants and will result in benefits in crop yield.