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Enhanced Expression of AtNHX1, in Transgenic Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Improves Salt and Drought Tolerence

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Abstract

Salinity and drought are main threat to agriculture productivity, to avoid further losses it is necessary to improve the genetic material of crops against these stresses In this present study, AtNHX1, a vacuolar type Na+/H+ antiporter gene driven by 35S promoter was introduced into groundnut using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation system. The stable integration of the AtNHX1 gene was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and southern blot analysis. It was found that transgenic plants having AtNHX1 gene are more resistant to high concentration of salt and water deprivation than the wild type plants. Salt and proline level in the leaves of the transgenic plants were also much higher than that of wild type plants. The results showed that overexpression of AtNHX1 gene not only improved salt tolerance but also drought tolerance in transgenic groundnut. Our results suggest that these plants could be cultivated in salt and drought-affected soils.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are highly thankful to acknowledge the cooperation of Miss Anjuman Arif, of National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, Pakistan and Director Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Chakwal, Pakistan for the providing the vector pGNFA-(pAHC17-AtNHX1) carrying AtNHX1 gene expression cassette and the seeds of groundnut varieties, respectively. The authors also acknowledge the support of Dr. Yusuf Zafar for his guidance and support during the studies conducted at National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology, NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Ahsan Asif, Javaid Iqbal, Muhammad Munir Iqbal, Umer Rashid, Ghulam Muhammad Ali & Farhat Nazir

  2. Biosciences Division, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Yusuf Zafar

  3. National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Anjuman Arif

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  1. Muhammad Ahsan Asif
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  2. Yusuf Zafar
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  3. Javaid Iqbal
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  4. Muhammad Munir Iqbal
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  6. Ghulam Muhammad Ali
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  7. Anjuman Arif
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Correspondence to Farhat Nazir.

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Asif, M.A., Zafar, Y., Iqbal, J. et al. Enhanced Expression of AtNHX1, in Transgenic Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Improves Salt and Drought Tolerence. Mol Biotechnol 49, 250–256 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-011-9399-1

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