Antisense down regulation of NtBI-1 in tobacco BY-2 cells induces accelerated cell death upon carbon starvation

Bax inhibitor-1 (BI-1) protein is proposed to be a conserved programmed cell death suppressor. In this report, we investigate the anti-apoptotic function of plant BI-1 by antisense (AS) down regulation of NtBI-1 in Nicotiana tabacum cv. BY-2 cells. We observed that AS cell lines were more susceptible to autophagy, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and death than control cells when subjected to sucrose starvation and hypo-osmotic shock, in agreement with a role of BI-1 as a death inhibitor. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.