The transpiration response of 14 transgenic groundnut genotypes to water deficit was studied under greenhouse conditions and compared with that of JL 24 (control). Plants were grown under well-watered conditions until 19 days after sowing, after which the plants were saturated with water then subjected to drought stress (absence of irrigation). JL 24 started to show wilting symptoms (loss of turgor) after 21 days of stress, after which severe symptoms were evident in this line. JL 24 reached the stage III (normalized transpiration rate or NTR <0.1) after 27 days.

Cultivated peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is the fourth most important oilseed crop in the world, grown mainly in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate climates. Due to its origin through a single and recent polyploidization event, followed by successive selection during breedingefforts, cultivated groundnut has a limited genetic background. In such species, microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are very informative and useful for breeding applications.