Monitoring of gene expression profiles and identification of candidate genes involved in drought responses in Festuca mairei

Abstract

To understand the molecular genetic basis underlying drought tolerance in grasses, the cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) technique was applied for identification of genes responding to drought stress in a xerophytic adapted plant, Festuca mairei. A total of 11,346 transcript derived fragments (TDFs) were detected, and 464 (4.1%) TDFs were identified as differentially expressed fragments (DEFs) during the drought treatment of the plant. The expression patterns of these DEFs included up-regulated ( approximately 30%), down-regulated ( approximately 54.3%), and the remainder ( approximately 16.7%) showing transient changes. The differential expression patterns of 171 DEFs were further confirmed by macroarray hybridization analysis. Sequences had been obtained for 163 DEFs, and 62 sequences had no significant hits to sequences currently in public databases. Predicted functions of remaining 101 sequences were subdivided into 17 categories. Down-regulated genes were highly represented by metabolism and cellular biogenesis. Up-regulated DEFs were enriched in genes involved in transcription, defense, cell cycle and DNA processing. Analysis of the 163 DEFs provides a first glimpse into the transcripts of F. mairei during drought stress treatment. The combination of data from studies on genetic model plants and on diverse plant species will enhance understanding of the drought tolerance mechanisms in plants.

Sugarcane genes differentially expressed during water deficit

“…The expression of bZIP transcription factor and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphato-dehydrogenase was changed in water deficit-tolerant bean (Micheletto et al 2007) and sunflower plants (Roche et al 2007) as well as in maize exposed to high-salinity, cold and ABA (Zheng et al 2006). Aquaporins (Luu and Maurel 2005), kinase protein (Shou et al 2004), WRKY transcription factor (Marè et al 2004), and auxin-regulated protein (Wang and Bughrara 2007) were also described as responsive to water stress. This is consistent with our results and shows that the cDNA macroarray was an efficient method for identifying stress-regulated genes.…”

cDNA-AFLP analysis of Psidium guajava L. cultivars under water stress and mechanical injury: methodological implications

“…Traditionally, studies using cDNA-AFLP apply radioactively labeled primers or silver staining polyacrylamide gel for transcription profile analysis (Vos et al, 1995;Cracium et al, 2006;Wang and Bughrara, 2007;Zhang et al, 2010). According to Dresler-Nurmi et al (2000), fluorescence is an alternative to radioactive labeling since both methods provide comparable results.…”

Sugarcane Responses at Water Deficit Conditions

“…They observed that estimated future weather conditions will essentially affect physiological processes of plants in unforeseeable ways regarding isolated factors; though dependant on the interaction of growth strategy of the species and their capacity to adjust to the conditions of water availability in the soil. Other studies indicate that the effects of drought, salinity, temperature extremes and oxidative stress are interconnected and may induce similar damage on a cellular level, such as osmotic changes resulting in homeostasis interruption and ion distribution in the cell (Zhu, 2001;Wang et al, 2007). Accordingly, it is clear that abiotic stresses occur normally as a pool of factors which interact and that plants react to these environmental adversities in a complex manner (Shao et al, 2007).…”

“…It is a fact that some plants can tolerate stress events more efficiently than others. The Festuca mairei is a grass that can be used as reference in genomic studies to be compared to other grass due to its genetic adaptation to drought (Wang & Bughrara, 2007). Most of the genes repressed under drought stress in this grass are related to biogenesis and cellular metabolism whereas the induced genes are involved with transcription and defense (Wang & Bughrara, 2007).…”

“…The Festuca mairei is a grass that can be used as reference in genomic studies to be compared to other grass due to its genetic adaptation to drought (Wang & Bughrara, 2007). Most of the genes repressed under drought stress in this grass are related to biogenesis and cellular metabolism whereas the induced genes are involved with transcription and defense (Wang & Bughrara, 2007). In addition, in our gene expression experiments a large number of unknown genes were determined; www.intechopen.com which may represent a source of new variability in water deficit tolerance studies.…”