DREB2 transcription factor expression in Triticum aestivum L. under drought and salt stresses

Bread wheat or Triticum aestivum is an annual grass in the grass family and native to the southwest Asia and Mediterranean region which is also one of the several species of cultivated wheat in Iran. Two of the most important abiotic stresses are drought and salt stresses which seriously constrain crop production. DREBs or dehydration responsive element binding proteins are important plant-specific transcription factors that react to different abiotic stresses and consequently induce abiotic stress-related genes which provide stress tolerance in plants. In this study in order to evaluate expression pattern of DREB2 under salinity and drought stresses in twenty-day-old Triticum aestivum sprouts, sprouts were exposed to different concentrations of PEG (0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30%) and NaCl (0, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 mM) in Hoagland nutrient solution for 3 days. After 3 days, total RNA was extracted, cDNA was synthesized using Reverse Transcriptase enzyme and cDNA was used for Real Time PCR. Analysis of DREB2 gene expression under normal and different levels of PEG and NaCl stress conditions compared to GAPDH as reference gene indicated that this gene upregulated significantly when the plant was exposed to drought and salt stresses. Our results showed that DREB2 gene is involved in abiotic tensions, especially drought and salinity stresses but the amount of expression under drought stress was higher than salinity in all samples.

Keywords:

Bread wheat , DREB2 , Drought and salt stresses , Gene expression