Improved drought resistance in a wheat stay-green mutant tasg1 under field conditions

Abstract

We investigated the drought resistance of a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stay-green mutant tasg1 and its wild-type (WT) in field experiments conducted for two years. Drought stress was imposed by controlling irrigation and sheltering the plants from rain. Compared with the WT, tasg1 exhibited a distinct delayed senescence under both normal and drought stress conditions, as indicated by slower degradation of chlorophyll and decrease in net photosynthetic rate than in WT. At the same time, tasg1 mutants maintained more integrated chloroplasts and thylakoid ultrastructure than did WT plants under drought stress. Lower malondialdehyde content and higher antioxidative enzyme activities in tasg1, compared to WT, may be involved in the stay-green phenotype and drought resistance of tasg1.

Keywords

• antioxidative defense system
• chlorophyll degradation
• chloroplast and thylakoid ultrastructures
• drought stress
• photosynthesis