The use of JIP test to evaluate drought-tolerance of transgenic rice overexpressing OsNAC10

In this study, the JIP test was exploited to assess drought-tolerance of transgenic rice overexpressing OsNAC10. Two types of promoters, RCc3 (root-specific) and GOS2 (constitutive), were used to drive the transcription factor OsNAC10, a gene involved in diverse functions including stress responses. Three-month-old plants were exposed to drought for 1 week and their fluorescence kinetics was evaluated. Our results showed that drought-treated non-transgenic plants (NT) have higher fluorescence intensity at the J phase (2 ms) compared to transgenic plants, indicating a decline in electron transport beyond the reduced plastoquinone (Q(A) (-)). As manifested by negative L bands, transgenic plants also showed higher energetic connectivity and stability over NT plants under drought conditions. Also, the pool size of the end electron acceptor at the photosystem I was reduced more in NT than in transgenic plants under drought conditions. Furthermore, the transgenic plants had higher PItotal, a combined parameter that reflects all the driving forces considered in JIP test, than NT plants under drought conditions. In particular, the PItotal of the RCc3:OsNAC10 plants was higher than that of NT plants, which was in good agreement with their differences in grain yield. Thus, the JIP test proved to be practical for evaluating drought-tolerance of transgenic plants.