relative expression analysis of dreb2a gene in contrastive chickpea genotypes under drought stress using semi quantitative rt- pcr

chickpea (cicer arietinum l.) is one of the major legume crop mainly grown in the arid and semiarid regions. terminal drought is an important limiting factor to chickpea growth and productivity. transcription factors have been reported as critical regulators of drought tolerance. in this survey, we analyzed the expression pattern of dreb transcription factors in the leaves of two tolerant (mcc537) and susceptible (mcc674) chickpea genotypes treated with progressive water stress after 21 days of sowing at 3 time points (1, 2 and 4 days) to analyze the relation between the differential expression levels of this gene in terms of drought tolerability of these genotypes. gene expression analysis using semi quantitative rt- pcr indicated that dreb2a was significantly induced by dehydration stress. expression level of this gene in tolerant genotype was approximately 2 fold higher than the relative control under drought condition. the results showed that this tf may functions as a critical factor to improve drought tolerance. it also may be a candidate drought-responsive gene to facilitate molecular breeding and development of transgenic chickpea varieties.