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Characterization of Yields, Osmotic Stress-associated Traits, and Expression Patterns of ABA Receptor Genes in Winter Wheat Under Deficit Irrigation

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Abstract

Adoption of water-saving cultivation strategy for cereal crops benefits development of the sustainable agriculture worldwide. In this study, the effects of water supply on agronomic traits, ABA contents, drought response-associated physiological parameters, and expression patterns of the ABA receptor family genes during late stage were investigated. Under normal irrigation condition (NI, with irrigations performed prior to seed sowing, and at stages of jointing and flowering), the wheat cultivars, namely, the drought tolerant Cangmai 14 and the sensitive Jimai 325, displayed comparable agronomic traits (i.e. yields, yield components, and water use efficiencies), ABA contents, and the physiological traits associated with drought stress (i.e., proline and soluble sugar contents, and photosynthetic parameters). Under deficit irrigation (DI, without irrigation at flowering stage compared with NI), Cangmai 14 was much better on the agronomic traits, ABA contents, and the drought response-associated traits at late stage than Jimai 325. These results suggested that the improvement of drought response-associated traits contributed to the enhanced yield formation capacity of the drought-tolerant cultivars. Expression analysis on ABA receptor genes (i.e., PYL family ones) involving ABA signal perception indicated that TaPYL3, TaPYL5 and TaPYL8, three of the PYL family members, modified expression in the tested cultivars upon modified water supply copnditions, with more transcripts detected under DI than NI. Moreover, the expression levels of these genes were all shown to be higher in Cangmai 14 under DI than in Jimai 325. Transgene analysis on TaPYL3 validated that this gene exerted positive roles in modulating biomass production and photosynthetic function of plants under drought treatment. These results suggested the essential function of the ABA signaling genes in modulating plant drought response, whose enhanced transcription efficiencies positively impact on the drought response-associated physiological process, biomass production, and the yield formation capacity of wheat plants treated with DI through possibly an ABA-dependent pathway.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by Chinese National Key Research and Development Project on Science and Technology (2017YFD0300902) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (31872869).

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  1. Xinyang Bai and Liguo Guo have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, Hebei, China

    Xinyang Bai, Ruize Lin, Le Han & Kai Xiao

  2. Key Laboratory of Crop Growth Regulation of Hebei Province, Baoding, China

    Xinyang Bai, Ruize Lin, Le Han & Kai Xiao

  3. Research Institutes of Science and Technology, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, 071001, Hebei, China

    Liguo Guo

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  1. Xinyang Bai
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Bai, X., Guo, L., Lin, R. et al. Characterization of Yields, Osmotic Stress-associated Traits, and Expression Patterns of ABA Receptor Genes in Winter Wheat Under Deficit Irrigation. Int. J. Plant Prod. 15, 419–429 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42106-021-00146-4

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