ARS | Publication request: TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILING OF WATER DEFICIT STRESS IN SORGHUM

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 3, 2002
Publication Date: August 7, 2002
Citation: Payton, P.R., Mccartor, K., Pratt, L., Rosenow, D., Nguyen, H. 2002. Transcriptional profiling of water deficit stress in sorghum[abstract]. American Society of Plant Biologists Annual Meeting.

Technical Abstract: The identification of genetic factors underlying the complex responses of plants to drought stress provides a solid basis for improving drought resistance. The stay-green character in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a post-flowering drought resistance trait, which makes plants resistant to premature senescence under drought stress during the grain filling stage. The objective of this study is to integrate phenotypic analysis, physiological data, and gene expression profile data to identify and characterize genes controlling the stay-green trait. Two drought-induced, subtracted cDNA libraries were constructed using sorghum lines B35 (drought resistant/stay-green parent) and Tx7000 (drought-susceptible/non-stay green) parent. 10,300 cDNAs were sequenced and annotated in the laboratory of L. Pratt at the University of Georgia-Athens. We are currently analyzing these libraries to create a unique collection of genes expressed in response to water-deficit stress. The expression of these genes will be measured to identify candidates for genetic mapping and putatitive targets for genetic manipulation through traditional breeding. A detailed description of the stay-green trait, phenotypic characterization, and expression profiling data will be presented at this meeting.