Enhancement of drought resistance and biomass by increasing the amount of glycine betaine in wheat seedlings |
| |
Authors: | Chunmei He Weiwei Zhang Qiang Gao Aifang Yang Xiaorui Hu Juren Zhang |
| |
Institution: | (1) School of Life Science, Shandong University, 27 Shanda South Road, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China;(2) Present address: Maize Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Maize Improvement Sub-Center, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China; |
| |
Abstract: | Drought is a major agricultural menace reducing crop productivity and limiting the successful realization of land potential
throughout the world. Therefore, breeding common wheat with improved drought-tolerance via genetic manipulation is of great
importance. We have introduced the betA gene encoding choline dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli into common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Various levels of expression of the betA gene were confirmed by RT-PCR among the transgenic lines and different levels of glycine betaine accumulation were detected
in these lines. Several wheat transgenic lines with different betA expression levels in the T3 generation and wild-type (WT) were selected to test their performance under drought stress conditions.
Water deficit in plants caused a reduction in photosynthesis and activity of the PSII complex and resulted in increased accumulation
of osmolytes. Drought stress also led to lower membrane stability along with much higher activities of superoxide dismutase
and peroxidase in all wheat lines. However, wheat lines that were transgenic for the betA gene were less injured and exhibited greater root length and growth compared with the WT. It was concluded that the amount
of injury to the wheat plants was negatively correlated with the level of accumulation of glycine betaine, and the glycine
betaine acted as an important osmoprotectant in transgenic plants to improve root growth, and enhance the resistance of transgenic
plants to drought stress. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|