Heterologous expression of Arabidopsis thaliana rty gene in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) improves drought tolerance

Abstract Background Strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) is an important fruit crop worldwide. It was particularly sensitive to drought stress because of their fibrous and shallow root systems. Mutant rty Arabidopsis thaliana ROOTY RTY ) results in increased endogenous auxin levels, more roots, shoot growth. still unclear whether the gene improves tolerance strawberry. Results isolated from placed under control cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter pBI121-rty binary vector carrying selectable marker neomycin phosphotransferase II NPT II). Seven transgenic lines were confirmed by PCR western blot analysis. Accumulations IAA ABA significantly plants. The contents 46.5 ng g − 1 66.0 plants respectively. plant 236.3 543.8 . production adventitious roots trichomes enhanced Furthermore, transcript levels genes including biosynthetic, stress-responsive genes, higher than conditions. Water use efficiency a reduced water loss rate strawberry Additionally, peroxidase catalase activities experiment revealed novel function for related responses. Conclusions improved hormone-mediated heterologous expression promoting accumulation. These phytohormones together brought about various physiological changes that via production, trichome density, stomatal closure. Our suggested approach can be used overcome inherent trade-off between growth enhancing reducing shortage