Drought has always been a major abiotic factor affecting sugarcane
production. Yield losses caused by drouht have been known to reach nearly
50%. The transcription factor (TF) DREB2A activates the expression of
downstream genes involved in abiotic stress response in plants. DREB2A
expression can be induced either by dehydration, salinity or heat shock.

A study explored the effects of stress-inducible over-expression of the
transcription factor AtDREB2A CA, from Arabidopsis thaliana, on the gene
expression, leaf water potential, relative water content (RWC) and sucrose
content of sugarcane plants treated to a four-day water deficit treatment.

The expression of AtDREB2A CA led to up-regulation of genes involved in
plant response to drought stress. These plants maintained high RWC and leaf
water potential over 4 days of water-deficit and also had higher
photosynthetic rates until the 3rd day. It also increased sucrose levels and
improved bud sprouting in the transgenic sugarcane. These results indicate
that expression of AtDREB2A CA in transgenic sugarcane enhanced its drought
tolerance without significant biomass loss.

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