Fig. 3.

Over-expression of TaCIPK23 enhanced drought tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis and wheat. a Drought tolerance phenotypes of TaCIPK23-overexpression lines under water-deficit conditions. 7-day-old TaCIPK23-overexpression and wild-type plants were grown for 2 weeks in pots under normal conditions. The plants were subject to another 2-week drought treatment. b Survival rate of the water-stressed plants was monitored 5 days after rewatering. c Pro content measurement. d Souble sugar content measurement. e Measurement of stomatal conductance. Each data point is the mean (±SE) of three experiments (10 seedlings per experiment). Significant differences from the WT are denoted by two asterisks corresponding to P < 0.01 by Student’s t-tests. f The expression level of drought-responsive genes was altered in TaCIPK23- overexpressing plants under drought conditions. Two-week-old TaCIPK23-overexpressing and wild-type seedlings with 6% PEG6000 treatment were used for RNA isolation. Transcript level was quantified by qRT-PCR assays. Expression of Actin was analyzed as a control. Each data point is the mean (±SE) of three experiments (10 seedlings per experiment) Data are means (±SE) of three independent experiments. g Drought tolerance phenotypes of TaCIPK23-overexpression wheat seedlings under drought conditions. 10-day-old TaCIPK23-overexpression and wild-type (Fielder) wheat seedlings were without irrigation for 16 days. h RT-PCR analysis of TaCIPK23 gene expression from Ubi-TaCIPK23 transgenic and control plants. Expression of Actin was analyzed as a loading control. i Survival rate of the water-stressed wheat seedlings was monitored 5 days after rewatering