CgDREBa transgenic chrysanthemum confers drought and salinity tolerance

The drought and salinity tolerances of a creeping ground-cover chrysanthemum variety ‘Yuhuaxunzhang’ were compared to the performance of its two derived transgenic lines carrying a drought-responsive element binding (DREB) factor from chrysanthemum designated as CgDREBa. The over-expression of CgDREBa conferred a measure of tolerance to both stresses. The transgenic lines showed a higher survival rate and were better able to retain fresh weight in the presence of stress. Activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase and the proline content were all higher in the leaves of the transgenic plants after a prolonged period of stress, but they accumulated less malondialdehyde. CgDREBa appears to function as a transcription activator of genes within the oxidative and osmotic homeostasis transduction pathways, and represents a promising candidate for a biotechnological approach to improve the level of abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

• The over-expression of CgDREBa conferred drought and salinity tolerance of chrysanthemum.
• Activities of superoxide dismutase and peroxidase were higher in the transgenic plants.
• The transgenic plants accumulated higher proline while less malondialdehyde than control.
• CgDREBa regulates the oxidative and osmotic homeostasis pathways in chrysanthemum.