Abstract
The dune grass Leymus mollis (Triticeae; Poaceae) is wild relative of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and grows mainly along sea coasts and in inland dry areas. L. mollis is highly tolerant to salt and drought stresses, diseases and adaptive to harsh environmental conditions. The genetic bases controlling its physiological tolerance to drought and salt stresses remain largely unexplored. We used Subtractive Subtraction Hybridization to identify candidate genes for drought tolerance from L. mollis. New unknown gene was identified as highly expressed in response to drought stress, up-regulated in response salt stress and jasmonic and gibberellic acid treatments. Using the corresponding homologous gene from Arabidopsis, we found that this gene is localized in the chloroplast. This gene may be a candidate to generate drought tolerant plants by overexpressing it. Furthermore, it represent good DNA marker for selecting drought tolerant wheat since L. mollis genes can be introduced into wheat by cross hybridization.
