Table V.

Membrane damage is induced by osmotic stress in wild-type and transgenic tobacco plants

Wild-type (WT), γ-TMT:RNAi-55, and HPT:RNAi-28 tobacco plants were cultivated on increasing concentrations of sorbitol as indicated on the left. Four weeks after the onset of osmotic stress, membrane damage was assayed from stressed plants by determining ion leakage from leaf discs. Data shown are the means and sds of four independent measurements. *, P < 0.10; **, P < 0.05; and ***, P < 0.01. Significantly different values for identical treatments were classified into groups a and b, as indicated by the respective letter.

Sorbitol	WT % of Ion Leakage	γ-TMT % of Ion Leakage	HPT % of Ion Leakage
mm
0	44.66 ± 3.09a	47.49 ± 3.69a	55.48 ± 5.06b*
100	39.15 ± 2.96a	46.31 ± 3.12a	63.46 ± 9.76b**
200	39.38 ± 7.70a	47.39 ± 4.41ab	55.25 ± 9.56b**
300	47.85 ± 1.71a	43.71 ± 6.86a	61.41 ± 9.08b
400	78.91 ± 0.81a	48.80 ± 8.45b***	79.85 ± 8.39a