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Overexpression of ScALDH21 gene in cotton improves drought tolerance and growth in greenhouse and field conditions

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Abstract

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is essential for scavenging redundant aldehydes when plants are exposed to stress. The aim of the present study was to validate the ectopic expression of the ScALDH21 gene, which is isolated from Syntrichia caninervis, an extremely drought-tolerant moss, to improve drought tolerance in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). In our study, the ScALDH21-transformed cotton was identified via PCR, RT-PCR, and DNA gel blotting, and the growth and physiological characteristics related to drought tolerance were compared between the transgenic cotton (TC) and non-transgenic cotton (NT) grown in a greenhouse and in field conditions. The results indicated that TC accumulated approximately 11.8–304 % more proline than did NT under drought stress, and produced a lower concentration of lipid peroxidation-derived reactive aldehydes and had a higher peroxidase activity under oxidative stress. Moreover, TC showed reduced loss of the net photosynthetic rate compared with NT. Under field conditions, TC showed greater plant height, larger bolls, and greater cotton fiber yield than NT, but no significant difference in fiber quality between TC and NT following different water-withholding treatments. These results suggest that overexpression of ScALDH21 can greatly improve the drought tolerance of cotton without reduction in yield and fiber quality.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Fund from The West Light Talents Cultivation Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XBBS201202); The National Basic Research Program of China (2014CB954203) and the High Technology Research and Development Program of Xinjiang Autonomous Region (201411104). We thank master students Bei Gao, Jingling Pei and Ming Cai from Key laboratory of biogeography and bioresource in arid land, Xinjiang institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science for their help with this work; We are grateful to Professor Qingping Kong and Professor Jianhui Xu from the Economic Crop Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China, for their support in the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, 830011, Urumqi, China

    Honglan Yang, Daoyuan Zhang, Xiaoshuang Li, Haiyan Li & Jiancheng Wang

  2. College of Resource and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China

    Honglan Yang

  3. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China

    Haiyan Lan

  4. Economic Crop Research Institute, Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Urumqi, 830091, China

    Dawei Zhang

  5. Department of Plant Biology, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6509, USA

    Andrew J. Wood

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  1. Honglan Yang
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  3. Xiaoshuang Li
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Correspondence to Daoyuan Zhang or Haiyan Lan.

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Yang, H., Zhang, D., Li, X. et al. Overexpression of ScALDH21 gene in cotton improves drought tolerance and growth in greenhouse and field conditions. Mol Breeding 36, 34 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11032-015-0422-2

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