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Recurrent drought periods of varying duration often cause extensive crop damage and affect wheat production in Southern Europe. This study compares biochemical and ultrastructural responses of four wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars to long-term field drought, and their contribution to final grain yield. Gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting analyses combined with transmission electron microscopy and grain yield evaluation were employed to assess drought susceptibility of the wheat cultivars. Two of them behaved as drought-tolerant, the other two presented as drought sensitive. Enhanced degradation of Rubisco large subunit (RLS), Rubisco small subunit (RSS) and Rubisco activase (RA) accompanied by an increased protease activity and reduced levels of heat shock proteins (HSP70) and dehydrins (DHNs) were associated with drought sensitivity. Drought tolerance coincided with relatively stable or increased HSP70 and DHN contents, and unchanged/higher levels of RLS, RSS and RA. Sensitive cultivars were more vulnerable to ultrastructural damages, showing obvious degradation of chloroplast membrane systems and depletion of leaf starch reserves. These drought responses affected yield potential, as tolerant cultivars gave higher yield under intense drought. Thus, our results provide additional insights into the complexity of plant drought responses, identifying multiple interacting traits that may serve as indirect selection criteria for wheat drought tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformed tobacco plants expressing a rice cysteine proteinase inhibitor (OC-I) and non-transformed plants were grown in a controlled environment and subjected to various stresses. Two-month-old transformed and non-transformed plants were exposed for 5 days to drought conditions by withholding watering. High temperature (40 °C) was applied additionally at day 6th for 5 h either individually or in combination with drought. All stress treatments were applied under low (150 μmol m−2 s−1 PPFD) and high light intensity (HL) of 1000 μmol m−2 s−1 PPFD to determine if OC-I expression might provide protection under combination of stresses usually existing in nature. Drought stress led to diminution in leaf relative water content, photosynthesis inhibition, decrease in chlorophyll content and accumulation of malondialdehyde and proline. Heat stress alone did not affect the plants significantly, but intensified the effect of drought stress. HL intensity further increased the proline content. OC-I transformed plants grown under low light intensity had significantly higher total superoxide dismutase and guaiacol peroxidase activities as well as their isoforms than non-transformed control plants under non-stress and stress conditions. Catalase activity was not highly affected by OC-I expression. Results indicate that OC-I expression in tobacco plants provides protection of the antioxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase and guaiacol peroxidise under both non-stress and stress conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]