Isolation of genes involved in response to osmotic stress

Two different approaches were used to identify genes involved in the cellular response to water and salinity stress in potato. 1) Differential Display of mRNAs (DDRT-PCR), was used to isolate and distinguish genes whose expression is modulated during short and/or long-term water stress. 2) Functional analysis of potato cDNA clones by over-expression in E. coli cells, to fish out genes that provide salinity tolerance. The isolation and partial characterization of 17 different potato cDNA clones whose expression is modulated in response to abiotic stresses is reported.