Identification of dehydrin markers in Capsicum annuum for development of drought tolerant crops in changing environment

Abstract

Aim: The contribution of dehydrin is well known in drought stress tolerance in plants. The present study focus on identifying the markers linked to dehydrin protein for enhancing drought tolerance in chilli, Capsicum annuum. Methodology: The publically available 1,15,000 plus EST collection of C annuum were explored for identifying the presence of markers. A computer program was developed to read and analyse large fragments of nucleotide sequences and for locating the microsatellite repeat motifs in the EST col lections of C annuum. The program searched for exact motifs, a string of repeated units, with all possible combinations of motif occurrences. Results: Based on conserved protein domains, several ESTs were identified with potential markers. Among them, one-third were predominated by dehydrin marker also having high sequence similarity. Three dehydrin markers were found to be highly conserved and robust, and were associated at high frequency with the DHN protein. Interpretation: These potential dehydrin markers are linked directly to genes that encode trait specific characteristics and are highly useful for molecular breeding program for the selection of parental lines and for the development of crops tolerant to drought stress in changing climate scenario.