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Enhancement of drought resistance and biomass by increasing the amount of glycine betaine in wheat seedlings

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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.

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Abbreviations

BADH:

Betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase

CDH:

Choline dehydrogenase

CMO:

Choline monooxygenase

GB:

Glycine betaine

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

RWC:

Relative water content

Ls:

Stomatal limitation value

NBT:

Nitroblue tetrazolium

POD:

Peroxidase

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

WT:

Wild-type

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Yongbin Yan (Tsinghua University) for their assistance with NMR. This research was supported by Hi-Tech Research and Development (863) Program of China (2007AA10Z175).

We thank Dr. Roberta Greenwood for her help in editing this manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Chunmei He

    Present address: Maize Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/National Maize Improvement Sub-Center, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Shandong University, 27 Shanda South Road, Jinan, 250100, People’s Republic of China

    Chunmei He, Weiwei Zhang, Qiang Gao, Aifang Yang, Xiaorui Hu & Juren Zhang

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Correspondence to Juren Zhang.

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He, C., Zhang, W., Gao, Q. et al. Enhancement of drought resistance and biomass by increasing the amount of glycine betaine in wheat seedlings. Euphytica 177, 151–167 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-010-0263-3

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