Investigation of Relationship Between Drought Stress Resilience and Some Wrky Transcription Factor Genes in Some Kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa) Cultivars

Drought stress significantly affects the yield and quality of agricultural crops. Plants have developed various adaptations to cope with drought stress. These adaptations involve the regulation of physiological and biochemical mechanisms regulated by many genes. Therefore, identification of cultivars with strong responses to drought stress will provide important contributions to breeding programs. In this study, Hayward and Matua kiwifruit cultivars were used and the plants were subjected to drought in vitro in nutrient media containing PEG 6000 (Polyethyleneglycol) at concentrations of 0, 1, 2, and 3%. The morphological parameters of the plants were examined during the culture period and WRKY TF was utilized to determine the molecular regulations induced by drought stress in plants. For this purpose, the expression levels of WRKY3, WRKY9, WRKY21, WRKY28, WRKY41, WRKY47, WRKY65 and WRKY71 genes were analyzed in leaf and root tissues of the cultivars. The findings showed that the plants in the 2% and 3% PEG media were significantly affected by drought stress, with a notably low root formation performance. The gene expression analysis revealed that the expression levels of genes in the leaf and root tissues of plants under drought conditions were higher compared to the control group. The data obtained from the analyses indicated that the Hayward and Matua cultivars exhibited strong responses to drought both morphologically and genetically.