A recombinant vector pCdesD was constructed by ligation of a fatty acid desaturase gene

desD

isolated from Cyanobacterium strain PCC6803 into the pCAMBIA1301 for rice transformation to increase its cold resistance.The desD gene was transformed into a Chinese cultivar Zhonghua11 and a Korea cultivar Pyongyang21 by Agrobacterium-mediated rice callus transformation system

and many transgenic rice plants were obtained successfully.The results of the PCR and Southern blotting analyse from transgenic rice plants had shown that the target gene was integrated into transgenic rice genome

and the transgenic rice plants with a copy of exotic gene were segregated into positive and negative individuals as the ratio of 3∶1 in the T1 generation.Northern blotting analysis illustrated further that exotic desD expressed normally at the level of RNA.Compared with the non-transgenic control

the transgenic rice plants increased the content of desaturated fatty acids

improved the photosynthesis

and exhibited better chilling tolerance under low temperature treatment.It is the first report that rice was successfully transformed by fatty acid desaturase gene desD derived from Cyanobacterium strain PCC6803 and improved remarkably its cold-resistance ability.