Cassava is an important root crop to resource-poor farmers in marginal areas, where its production faces drought stress constraints. Given the difficulties associated with cassava breeding, a molecular understanding of drought tolerance in cassava will help in the identification of markers for use in marker-assisted selection and genes for transgenic improvement of drought tolerance. This study...

To understand molecular mechanisms of perennial grass adaptation to drought stress, genes associated with drought avoidance or tolerance traits were identified and their expression patterns were characterized in C4 hybrid bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.×C. transvaalensis Burtt Davy, cv. Tifway] and common bermudagrass (C. dactylon, cv. C299). Plants of drought-tolerant 'Tifway' and dr...

BACKGROUND Calcium-binding proteins that contain EF-hand motifs have been reported to play important roles in transduction of signals associated with biotic and abiotic stresses. To functionally characterize genes of EF-hand family in response to abiotic stress, an MtCaMP1 gene belonging to EF-hand family from legume model plant Medicago truncatula was isolated and its function in response to d...

Plant drought stress response and resistance are complex biological processes that need to be analyzed at a systems level using genomics and physiological approaches to dissect experimental models that address drought stresses encountered by crops in the field. Toward this goal, a controlled, sublethal, moderate drought (mDr) treatment system was developed in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ...

Drought is a major abiotic stress impeding the yield of cereal crops globally. Particularly in Mediterranean environments, water becomes a limiting factor during the reproductive developmental stage, causing yield losses. The wild progenitor of cultivated barley Hordeum vulgare ssp spontaneum (Hsp) is a potentially useful source of drought tolerance alleles. Wild barley introgression lines like...

Drought is the most important limiting factor for crop production and it is becoming an increasingly severe problem in many regions of the world [1]. According to FAO statistics, the percentage of drought affected land areas more than doubled from the 1970s to the early 2000s in the world [2]. Drought is a world-spread problem seriously influencing grain production and quality and with increasi...

The objective of this research was to analyse whether ameliorating drought stress through exogenously applied spermine (Spm) was related to carbohydrate metabolism, dehydrins accumulation and the transcription of genes encoding dehydrins in two white clovers (drought-susceptible cv. 'Ladino' and drought-resistant cv. 'Haifa') under controlled drying conditions for 10 days. The results show that...

Survival and mortality of plants in response to severe drought may be related to carbon starvation, but little is known about how plasma membrane intrinsic proteins may help alleviate the drought-induced damage. Here, we determined the roles of plasmalemma aquaporin gene in improving plant water status, maintaining carbon accumulation, and thereby enhancing drought tolerance. Seven StPIP1 trans...