Isolation, Characterization of the hva1 Gene from Syrian Barley Varieties and Cloning into a Binary Plasmid Vector

hval, a barley (.Hordeum vulgare L.) group ?? Late Embiyogenesis Abundant (LEA) protein, is highly induced by various stresses and has successfully been used to confer stable tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity in several transgenic plant species. In the present study, the hval gene from some Syrian barley varieties was isolated, characterized and then cloned into the monocot.-specific binary vector pAHC25 to enable transformation of crops for drought tolerance. The 3-day-old seedlings of several Syrian barley varieties were subjected to different stress treatments (Abscisic acid, (ABA) drought, salt and cold) for gene expression studies. Complementary DNA (cDNA) was synthesized from isolated RNA using hval homologous primers for amplification of 788 bp. The eluted DNA band was analysed and sequenced, the obtained sequence was blast using N-blast of NCBI. The results showed similarities between 80 and 98% to accession number: X78205. The coding region of 642 bp was cloned resulting in pAHC25-ubil-hval-nos construct. This construct was then transferred into two Agrobacterium strains, i.e., LBA4404 and EHA105 for transgenic crop improvement mainly to target improved stress tolerance in crops such as wheat, cotton and maize.