Skip Navigation



JXB Advance Access published online on April 8, 2004
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erh129
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
55/399/1013    most recent
erh129v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shou, H.
Right arrow Articles by Wang, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shou, H.
Right arrow Articles by Wang, K.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Shou, H.
Right arrow Articles by Wang, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Received November 4, 2003; accepted February 11, 2004
© 2004 Society for Experimental Biology

RESEARCH PAPER

Expression of the Nicotiana protein kinase (NPK1) enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic maize

Huixia Shou 1*, Patricia Bordallo 1, and Kan Wang 1*

1 Plant Transformation Facility, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1010, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kanwang{at}iastate.edu.


  Abstract

Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses affecting the productivity of maize. Previous studies have shown that expression of a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) gene activated an oxidative signal cascade and led to the tolerance of freezing, heat, and salinity stress in transgenic tobacco. To analyse the role of activation of oxidative stress signalling in improving drought tolerance in major crops, a tobacco MAPKKK (NPK1) was expressed constitutively in maize. Results show that NPK1 expression enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic maize. Under drought conditions, transgenic maize plants maintained significantly higher photosynthesis rates than did the non-transgenic control, suggesting that NPK1 induced a mechanism that protected photosynthesis machinery from dehydration damage. In addition, drought-stressed transgenic plants produced kernels with weights similar to those under well-watered conditions, while kernel weights of drought-stressed non-transgenic control plants were significantly reduced when compared with their non-stressed counterparts.

Key words: Drought tolerance, Nicotiana protein kinase, photosynthesis rate, transgenic maize, Zea mays.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Plant CellHome page
G. Mosquera, M. C. Giraldo, C. H. Khang, S. Coughlan, and B. Valent
Interaction Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Magnaporthe oryzae BAS1-4 as Biotrophy-Associated Secreted Proteins in Rice Blast Disease
PLANT CELL, April 1, 2009; 21(4): 1273 - 1290.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Crop Sci.Home page
R. M. Trethowan and A. Mujeeb-Kazi
Novel Germplasm Resources for Improving Environmental Stress Tolerance of Hexaploid Wheat
Crop Sci., July 1, 2008; 48(4): 1255 - 1265.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.