GENETIC IMPROVEMENT OF CANOLA AGAINST ABIOTIC STRESS THROUGH INCORPORATION OF DREB GENE
Syeda Qamarunnisa*1, Ishrat Jamil1, Saboohi Raza2, Abid Azhar1 and S. H. Mujtaba Naqvi1
1The Karachi Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering,
2Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
ABSTRACT
Salinity, sodicity, drought and water logging are serious problems of agriculture in Pakistan that add to poverty in the country. Pakistan, in spite of being a large agricultural country, imports huge amounts of edible oil. Brassica species in general, have good agronomic characteristics and under favorable conditions can give reasonable yields; however, under stress conditions their productivity is severely compromised. The main focus of this study is to develop salt and drought tolerant germplasm of Brassica napus var. wester by incorporating DREB gene that induces expression of stress tolerance genes which ultimately result in salt and drought tolerance of the variety. The paper describes the successful incorporation of DREB factor into Brassica napus var. wester genome that does seem to have regulated the expression of stress inducible genes as evidenced by increased content of proline in transformed plants when subjected to high salt level.
