W228 Engineering Plants for Changing Climatic Conditions

Date: Sunday, January 15, 2012
Time: 2:30 PM
Room: Sunset
Paramjit Khurana , Department of Plant Molecular Biology, New Delhi, India
Climatic changes affect agriculture and crop production adversely. Therefore, with decreasing water tables and increasing temperatures globally, engineering of plants capable of withstanding climatic changes needs to seriously undertaken. Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are members of a large group of hydrophilic proteins found primarily in plants. The barley hva1 gene encodes a group 3 LEA protein which is induced by ABA and water deficit conditions. Combining a traditional technique of haploid production and genetic transformation, transgenic doubled haploid plants were obtained from anther culture-derived haploid embryos in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv CPAN1676) using barley HVA1 gene. Transgene expression was monitored till T4 generation and doubled haploid, transgenic plants displayed faster germination and seedling establishment and better drought tolerance in comparison to the non-transgenic plants. As wheat is a temperate crop, it is also prone to heat stress.  Therefore to understand the gene expression profile of wheat under heat stress subtractive hybridization and functional genomics approaches were employed. Selected genes were analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR in an array of tissues representing major developmental stages as well as different abiotic stresses. Tissue specificity was examined along with cross talk with other abiotic stresses and putative signaling molecules. Some of these genes are being functionally validated employing genomic approaches. Results obtained contribute towards understanding the regulation of genes at different developmental stages in wheat crucial to withstanding and recovery from heat stress.