Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology

Effects of deficit irrigation on the growth, yield and quality of cotton overexpressing ScALDH21

8^th World Congress on Plant Genomics and Plant Science

August 10-11, 2018 Osaka, Japan

Zhang Daoyuan

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography-The Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Keynote: J Plant Pathol Microbiol

Abstract:

Plants have evolved complex molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms to respond to environmental stressors. Although genetic manipulation has not been largely successful, it represents an important method for improving water deficit tolerance in agricultural crops. Aldehyde dehydrogenases involved in cellular responses to oxidative/electrophilic stress protect against a variety of environmental stressors. In the past, we cloned and characterized moss-unique ALDH21 homologue from Syntrichia caninervis (ScALDH21), an extremely desiccation-tolerant moss found in deserts of Central Asia. ScALDH21 gene plays important roles in plant responses to abiotic stresses, as overexpression of this gene in tobacco and cotton decreases the sensitivity of these plants to drought and salt stresses, suggesting that the ScALDH21 gene plays a critical role in abiotic stress responses. To test the possibility that transgenic ScALDH21 cotton may be suitable for cultivating under water deficit conditions, the phenotype, physiological response and yield of transgenic ScALDH21 cotton were measured in drought pool and field experiments. We report here that overexpression of ScALDH21 in cotton results in higher net photosynthesis, less cell damage, more cell protective substances and better growth than wild-type cotton under drought stress in drought pool. As compared with none transgenic control, yield of transgenic cotton lines under reduced irrigation condition increased more than yield under normal irrigation conditions. Seed cotton yield in the field increased approximately 10.0% under normal irrigation conditions and increased approximately 21.0% under deficit irrigation conditions compared with control. Furthermore, fiber quality character in transgenic cotton lines increased than that of control under normal and deficit irrigation conditions. These results suggest that transgenic ScALDH21 cotton is a viable candidate material to improve crop yields in water-limited agricultural production systems.

Biography :

Zhang Daoyuan is currently working as a Professor and Department Head of Biogeography and Bioresources of Xinjiang Ecology and Geography Institute, CAS, China. She had obtained her PhD in Molecular Ecology in 2003. She had attended studies and training programs in China, Japan (3 month) and United States (6 month). The molecular, cellular and biochemical responses of plants to water-deficit stress are the central, and long-term, interest of her research program. She has published over 120 research papers including 55 in international journals (SCI paper). She is the Director of Turpan Eremophytes Botanical Garden, CAS and Secretary-General of Xinjiang Botanical Society and also Member of the Botanical Society of China, Chinese Society of Environmental Sciences and Chinese Plant expert Group of IUCN/SSC.

E-mail: zhangdy@ms.xjb.ac.cn