Differential expression of genes related to dehydration tolerance for screening of tolerant genotypes in bread wheat

Bread wheat is one of the most important crops in the world, which is essential in terms of global food security. However, its production is extremely compromised in agricultural regions affected by water deficiency during part of the growing season and mostly in the later stages of growth. Therefore, it is promising to identify the native drought-tolerant germplasms and molecular mechanisms used to enhance drought stress resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression level of eight selected genes related to drought tolerance NCED, ABF, HKT, PAL, bHLH, ABC transporter and lipoxygenase in two native germplasms of Iranian winter wheat, one is sensitive and the other is drought tolerant. For this purpose, drought treatment was applied on native germplasms in a completely randomized design with three replications and two levels of treatment in the greenhouse. Selected gene fragments were amplified, gene expression was measured by Reverse Northern Blot and quantified using total lip software. Analysis of variance of the mean relative expression of each gene compared to the internal control gene showed that drought stress had a significant effect on the expression of all genes except bHLH gene. Biplot based on the first and second components made it possible to isolate genotypes in dehydration stress based on the expression of the seven genes evaluated. This method can be used in screening and identifying tolerant genotypes in landrace population of wheat.