CAMTA1 Transcription Factor Regulates Salinity And Drought Tolerance In Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)
Abstract Various abiotic stresses like drought, salinity, high temperature, and chilling adversely affect plant growth and productivity. Terminal drought stress is one of the major concerns which limits the growth and yield of chickpea. CAMTA (Calmodulin binding transcription activator) plays a vital role in stress tolerance in plants. In this study, we have selected a CAMTA1 gene to explore its role against salinity and drought stress in an economically important crop, chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). CAMTA1 gene was then over-expressed in chickpea and was exposed to drought and salinity. The over-expression of CAMTA1 enhanced the activities of various antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase; APX, catalase: CAT, glutathione S-transferase; GST, superoxide dismutase; SOD, monodehydroascorbate reductase; MDHAR). The reduced stress markers TBARS and H2O2 enhanced the survival of plants against both stresses. The physiological parameters (net photosynthesis; PN, transpiration; E, stomatal conductance; gs, photochemical quenching; qP, non-photochemical quenching; qN, and electron transport rate; ETR) were improved in the transgenics under both the stresses, that protected the plants from damage. This investigation verified that the CAMTA1 gene provides tolerance against drought and salinity by maintaining biochemical, physiological, and morphological performances, and could be exploited for genetic engineering strategies to overcome the stresses in other economically important crops.