Water-deficit inducible expression of a cytokinin biosynthetic gene IPT improves drought tolerance in cotton.

ABSTRACT: Water-deficit stress is a major environmental factor that limits agricultural productivity worldwide. Recent episodes of extreme drought have severely affected cotton production in the Southwestern USA. There is a pressing need to develop cotton varieties with improved tolerance to water-deficit stress for sustainable production in water-limited regions. One approach to engineer drought tolerance is by delaying drought-induced senescence via up-regulation of cytokinin biosynthesis. The isopentenyltransferase gene (IPT) that encodes a rate limiting enzyme in cytokinin biosynthesis, under the control of a water-deficit responsive and maturation specific promoter P(SARK) was introduced into cotton and the performance of the P(SARK)::IPT transgenic cotton plants was analyzed in the greenhouse

SUBMITTER: Kuppu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3651191 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature