Ectopic expression of Arabidopsis H⁺-pyrophosphatase AVP1 enhances drought resistance in bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria Standl.)

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria sicerar ia Standl.) has been used as a source of rootstock for grafting watermelon to improve its fruit quality. We report here the development of a bottle gourd with resistance to drought by ectopic expression of the Arabidopsis AVP1 gene that encodes a vacuolar H⁺-pyrophosphatase. The drought resistance of AVP1-expressing and wild-type plants was assessed by growing plants under drought conditions. After 12 days of water deprivation, both AVP1-expressing and wild-type plants demonstrated reduced growth. After 10 days of re-watering, wild-type plants showed minimal growth while the AVP1-expressing plants resumed rapid growth. Further, AVP1-expressing plants displayed longer primary roots and more robust root systems than wild-type plants.