Comparative hormonal and expression analyses of two barley genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance.

Barley is negatively impacted by drought stress. In this study, comparative hormonal and expression profiling were conducted between drought tolerant and drought sensitive barley genotypes. The results revealed less changes in the expression profile of the tolerant genotype compared to the sensitive genotype. The expression level of some drought tolerance genes was higher in the drought tolerant genotype compared to the sensitive genotype. Moreover, few drought tolerance genes were uniquely and highly induced in the drought tolerant genotype. These results shed light into new mechanisms of drought tolerance in barley. This will deepen our understanding of the complex drought response in barley, and will help in the improvement of drought tolerant barley genotypes.