Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes In Creeping Bentgrass with Elevated Cytokinin Content Under Drought Stress.

Increased endogenous plant cytokinin (CK) content through transformation with an isopentyl transferase (ipt) gene has been found to be an effective method to promote plant drought tolerance. This study aimed to identify differentially-expressed genes associated with CK synthesis and drought tolerance of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). Null transformant (NT) and transgenic plants transformed with ipt controlled by a senescence activated promoter (SAG12-ipt) were exposed to drought stress in an environmental growth chamber until the moisture content of the 1:1 sand:soil growing mix reached approximately 5%. The subtraction of cDNA libraries from well-watered and drought stressed NT and SAG12-ipt leaves was performed. The results show that enhanced drought tolerance of SAG12-ipt plants may be related to the maintenance of several important differentially expressed genes. Specific gene changes will be discussed.