Investigation of stress at the level of gene expression in some culture (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wild (Hordeum spontaneum) barley genotypes under drought stress conditions

Drought is one of the abiotic stress factors that directly affect yield and quality in agricultural production. Plants show resistance to stress conditions with some changes in a way to minimize damage. In this study, gene expression profiles and some morphological, physiological and biochemical changes of barley genotypes with different tolerance to drought stress were investigated under drought stress. Tarm92, Avcı2002, Misket, Sayım40 and Hordeum spontaneum genotypes were used as material. Morphological (seedling height, fresh and dry weight), physiological (leaf turgor weight and leaf chlorophyll content) and biochemical (proline content) analyses were performed on samples taken on different days of drought stress and the expression of HVA1, Dhn3, HvSNAC1, HvCBF4, and HSP17.8 genes were compared. The results obtained varied according to the duration of drought, traits and genotypes. With increasing drought stress, especially when the soil water capacity was measured at 20% and 10%, significant decreases were observed in morphological and physiological results, while the amount of proline and the expression of the determined genes increased. Tarm92 variety was determined as drought tolerant and Avcı2002 variety was determined as sensitive. Again, in terms of their response to drought stress, Misket and Sayım40 varieties gave similar results to Tarm92 variety, while Hordeum spontaneum genotype gave similar results to Avcı2002 variety. Due to the complexity of the plant's response to drought stress, the difficulty in evaluating the results of morphological and physiological analysis alone, together with transcriptomic studies, will help to identify candidate genes that can be used in plant breeding, as well as providing ease and accuracy in the selection of productive plants.