Abstract：Overexpression of the stress-inducible transcription factor gene AtDREB1A in Chrysanthemum conferred strong drought stress tolerance. Taking A-112, A-128 and A-136 as experimental materials, which are the three excellent hybrid offspring plants of the ground cover Chrysanthemum fall color transgenic line 1805 with drought stress tolerance harboring Arabidopsis thaliana dehydration response element-binding protein 1A(AtDREB1A) and the Asia Winter Light with better phenotype, we analyzed the stability and expression of AtDREB1A under water stress condition by RT-PCR, and determined the wilting index, survival rate, proline(Pro) content and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity under drought stress condition. The results demonstrated that the exogenous gene AtDREB1A was transferred into the hybrid offspring plants by sexual propagation and it could be expressed in offspring plants under drought condition. Compared with the control plants, the hybrid offspring plants had obviously stronger drought stress tolerance, and their Pro content and SOD activity were obviously raised under drought condition. These results indicated that the AtDREB1A gene which is transferred into the hybrid offspring plants functions in enhancing drought stress tolerance. This research plays a role in breeding new Chrysanthemum cultivars with drought stress tolerance by genetic engineering combined with traditional hybrid breeding.
