Overexpression of AtSOAR1 improved drought tolerance of transgenic alfalfa
We also tested the effect of overexpression of AtSOAR1 on alfalfa drought tolerance (Figure 7A). At the beginning of drought treatment, WT and TG plants had similar content of leaf RWC, MDA, H2O2, and EL (Figure 7B-E). However, after drought treatment for 7 days WT plants showed obvious wilting compared to TGs. After drought treatment for 10 days, all the plants showed wilting on the top leaves. In comparison, the TG plants looked much better. The TG plants had new shoots and leaf growth after rehydration for 3 days, but the WT did not (Figure 7A). During the drought treatment, the leaf RWC content of WT was significantly lower than that of TG plants (Figure 7B), and the EL (Figure 7C), MDA (Figure 7D), and leaf H2O2 content (Figure 7E) of WT were significantly higher than those of TG plants. The results suggested that overexpression of AtSOAR1 enhanced drought tolerance in alfalfa.