Overexpression of soybean DREB1 enhances drought stress tolerance of transgenic wheat in the field

Drought-response-element binding (DREB)-like transcription factors can significantly enhance plant tolerance to water stress. However, most research on DREB-like proteins to date has been conducted in growth chambers or greenhouses, so there is very little evidence available to support their practical use in the field. In this study, we overexpressed GmDREB1 from soybean in two popular wheat varieties and conducted drought-tolerance experiments across a range of years, sites, and drought-stress regimes. We found that the transgenic plants consistently exhibited significant improvements in yield performance and a variety of physiological traits compared with wild-type plants when grown under limited water conditions in the field, for example showing grain yield increases between 4.79–18.43%. Specifically, we found that the transgenic plants had reduced membrane damage and enhanced osmotic adjustment and photosynthetic efficiency compared to the non-transgenic controls. Three enzymes from the biosynthetic pathway of the phytohormone melatonin were up-regulated in the transgenic plants, and external application of melatonin was found to improve drought tolerance. Together, our results demonstrate the utility of transgenic overexpression of GmDREB1 to improve the drought tolerance of wheat in the field.