Specific activities and transcript levels of glycolytic enzymes under dehydration in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings

The effect of dehydration on the specific activities and transcript levels of several glycolytic enzymes was determined in two chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars-Pusa362 (drought tolerant) and SBD377 (drought sensitive). Dehydration treatment was imposed on 6 days old chickpea seedlings by removing them from pots and keeping them on table top on 3MM Whatman paper at room temperature for 5 h. The stress imposed was judged by determining relative water content (RWC) and proline content. RWC decreased and proline content accumulated after five hours of dehydration treatment. The decline in RWC was higher in SBD377 than in Pusa362, while varietal differences were absent in proline content. With the exception of NADP-glyceraldehyde-3-phospahte dehydrogense, whose activity as well as transcript level showed marginal decrease in both the varieties, dehydration had little effect on all glycolytic enzymes studied.