Differential expression of the chloroplast chloride conductance regulatory protein ICLN and chloroplast voltage-dependent chloride channel 1 in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under simulated drought conditions

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7124/FEEO.v38.1822
Keywords: chickpea, drought tolerance, transcriptomics, chloride ions

Abstract

Aim. To investigate influence of chloride ions transport on drought tolerance in chickpea. Methods. To analyze differential gene expression in two chickpea genotypes – Desi PI598080 (drought-sensitive) and Kabuli Flip07 318C (drought-tolerant) – 12 transcriptomes were examined. Experiments were conducted under control and simulated drought stress conditions. Sequence alignment was performed using Bowtie2. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied using the R programming language to assess the effects of the factors “genotype” and “conditions” on gene expression levels. Differences were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. Results. The ICLN gene demonstrated a clear and statistically significant effect of the “genotype” factor in response to drought, whereas chloroplast voltage-dependent chloride channel 1 showed no statistically significant differences. Conclusions. The ICLN gene was found to be involved in the plant drought response and represents a promising target both for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance and for the development of molecular markers to improve drought tolerance in breeding programs.

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