Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of WDREB2 transcription factor to wheat for improvement of tolerance to abiotic stresses

Abiotic stresses such as drought, cold and salinity have negative effects on yield and growth plant, so tolerance to them has been main target of plant breeders. DREB transcription factors are member of AP2/ERF family. Analysis of promoter region of genes which responsive to drought and low temperature stresses and ABA-independent, led to the discovery of 9pb region with TACCGACAT sequence that named DER. Proteins which are encoded by DREB genes have attached to this sequence and regulate gene expression. WDREB2 or TaDREB gene expression is induced by drought, cold, abscisic acid and salinity stresses. This gene was transferred to wheat using Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation method. Molecular analysis with PCR technique confirms that 20 plants out of 40 plants are transgenic. Also gene expression analyses with Real-Time PCR Technique have showed that the most part of transgenic plants have increased expression between 2 to 19 times, more than non-transgenic plants. This increasing of expression which demonstrate the efficiency of 35S promoter in monocot plants, can lead to the raising of expression in downstream genes and enhancement of tolerance to environmental abiotic stresses.