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Overexpression of EaDREB2 and pyramiding of EaDREB2 with the pea DNA helicase gene (PDH45) enhance drought and salinity tolerance in sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid)

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EaDREB2 overexpressed in sugarcane enhanced tolerance to drought and salinity. When co-transformed with plant DNA helicase gene, DREB2 showed greater level of salinity tolerance than in single-gene transgenics.

Abstract

Drought is one of the most challenging agricultural issues limiting sustainable sugarcane production and can potentially cause up to 50 % yield loss. DREB proteins play a vital regulatory role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants. We previously reported that expression of EaDREB2 is enhanced by drought stress in Erianthus arundinaceus. In this study, we have isolated the DREB2 gene from E. arundinaceus, transformed one of the most popular sugarcane variety Co 86032 in tropical India with EaDREB2 through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, pyramided the EaDREB2 gene with the gene coding for PDH45 driven by Port Ubi 2.3 promoter through particle bombardment and evaluated the V1 transgenics for soil deficit moisture and salinity stresses. Soil moisture stress was imposed at the tillering phase by withholding irrigation. Physiological, molecular and morphological parameters were used to assess drought tolerance. Salinity tolerance was assessed through leaf disc senescence and bud sprout assays under salinity stress. Our results indicate that overexpression of EaDREB2 in sugarcane enhances drought and salinity tolerance to a greater extent than the untransformed control plants. This is the first report of the co-transformation of EaDREB2 and PDH45 which shows higher salinity tolerance but lower drought tolerance than EaDREB2 alone. The present study seems to suggest that, for combining drought and salinity tolerance together, co-transformation is a better approach.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) (Grant No. 102/IFD/SAN/325/2013-2014), Government of India. The authors are grateful to Dr. J. Srikanth, Principal Scientist, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, for critical comments for the improvement of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    Sruthy Maria Augustine, J. Ashwin Narayan, C. Appunu, M. Chakravarthi & N. Subramonian

  2. Indian Grass and Fodder Research Institute Regional Station, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, India

    Divya P. Syamaladevi

  3. Department of Rice, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

    V. Ravichandran

  4. International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India

    Narendra Tuteja

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  1. Sruthy Maria Augustine
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  2. J. Ashwin Narayan
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  3. Divya P. Syamaladevi
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  4. C. Appunu
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  5. M. Chakravarthi
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  6. V. Ravichandran
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  7. Narendra Tuteja
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  8. N. Subramonian
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Correspondence to N. Subramonian.

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Communicated by Prakash Lakshmanan.

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Augustine, S.M., Ashwin Narayan, J., Syamaladevi, D.P. et al. Overexpression of EaDREB2 and pyramiding of EaDREB2 with the pea DNA helicase gene (PDH45) enhance drought and salinity tolerance in sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrid). Plant Cell Rep 34, 247–263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-014-1704-6

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