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Boechera species exhibit species-specific responses to combined heat and high light stress.

ABSTRACT: As sessile organisms, plants must be able to complete their life cycle in place and therefore tolerance to abiotic stress has had a major role in shaping biogeographical patterns. However, much of what we know about plant tolerance to abiotic stresses is based on studies of just a few plant species, most notably the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study we examine natural variation in the stress responses of five diverse Boechera (Brassicaceae) species. Boechera plants were exposed to basal and acquired combined heat and high light stress. Plant response to these stresses was evaluated based on chlorophyll fluorescence measurements, induction of leaf chlorosis, and gene expression. Many of the Boechera species were more tolerant to heat and high light stress than A. thaliana. Gene expression data indicates that two important marker genes for stress responses: APX2 (Ascorbate peroxidase 2) and HsfA2 (Heat shock transcription factor A2) have distinct species-specific expression patterns. The findings of species-specific responses and tolerance to stress indicate that stress pathways are evolutionarily labile even among closely related species.

SUBMITTER: Gallas G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4452622 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Boechera species exhibit species-specific responses to combined heat and high light stress.

Gallas Genna G Waters Elizabeth R ER

PloS one 20150601 6

As sessile organisms, plants must be able to complete their life cycle in place and therefore tolerance to abiotic stress has had a major role in shaping biogeographical patterns. However, much of what we know about plant tolerance to abiotic stresses is based on studies of just a few plant species, most notably the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. In this study we examine natural variation in the stress responses of five diverse Boechera (Brassicaceae) species. Boechera plants were exposed t ...[more]

PMID: 26030823

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Project description:Photosynthetic assimilation is remarkably altered by heat and drought, and this depends on the individual or combined occurrence of stressors and their respective intensities and durations. Abiotic stressors may also alter the nutritional quality and economic value of crops. In this controlled greenhouse study, we evaluated the response of Brassica napus L., from flowering to seed development, to two temperature and water treatments and a combination of these treatments. The diffusional limitations of stomatal conductance and mesophyll conductance on photosynthesis, as well as resource-use efficiency (particularly water and nitrogen), were assessed. In addition, the effects of stressors on the seed fatty acid content and composition and the total protein content were examined. The results showed that the reduction in the net photosynthetic assimilation rate was caused by combinations of heat and drought (heat + drought) treatments, by drought alone, and, to a lesser extent, by heat alone. The stomatal conductance decreased under drought and heat + drought treatments but not under heat. Conversely, the mesophyll conductance was reduced significantly in the plants exposed to heat and heat + drought but not in the plants exposed to drought alone. The carboxylation efficiency rate and the electron transport rate were reduced under the heat treatment. The seed yield was reduced by 85.3% under the heat treatment and, to a lesser extent, under the drought treatment (31%). This emphasizes the devastating effects of hotter weather on seed formation and development. Seed oil content decreased by 52% in the plants exposed to heat, the protein content increased under all the stress treatments. Heat treatment had a more deleterious effect than drought on the seed oil composition, leading to enhanced levels of saturated fatty oils and, consequently, desaturation efficiency, a measure of oil frying ability. Overall, this study showed that except for the photosynthetic assimilation rate and stomatal conductance, heat, rather than drought, negatively affected the photosynthetic capacity, yield, and oil quality attributes when imposed during the flowering and silique-filling stages. This result highlights the necessity for a better understanding of heat tolerance mechanisms in crops to help to create germplasms that are adapted to rapid climate warming.

Project description:In natural habitats, plants are often exposed to multiple stresses. Most studies, however, for plant abiotic stress responses analyzed those to individual stress but not combined stresses. In this report, we performed comparison analyses of gene expression to individual stresses, salt, osmotic and heat, and to a combination of these three stresses, which mimics arid conditions. We show here that the combined stress treatment induces unique gene expression pattern but not a simple reflection of the additive effects of individual stresses. First, the number of genes induced by combined stresses (150 mM NaCl, 200 mM mannitol and 35Â°C heat) was much smaller when compared to the sum of those induced by individual stress treatments, while the number of genes downregulated by multiple stresses was larger. A large number of genes induced by mannitol were not induced by multiple stresses, while those induced by salts were less affected in combined stress treatments. In addition, 125 genes, including13 for transcription factors, were found to be induced specifically by combined stress treatments. We report here that the plant response to a multi-stress environment represents an output of complex interactions between different stress aspects and signaling events of the various components of this environmental situation, and the determinative factor in this response is to avoid/minimize the antagonistic effects and to magnify the synergistic features of the imposed environmental challenges. Based on our results, we propose that genes that are highly induced by multiple treatments may be candidate for engineering stress tolerant crop plants. Wild-type plants of Arabidopsis thaliana were treated with three abiotic stresses, high salinity (150mM and 300mM), high osmotic pressure (200mM and 400mM mannitol) and heat (35Â°C), individually or simultaneously. Plants were treated with salt or mannitol for 16 hrs (first 1 hr and last 7 hrs are in light and other time in dark) or with heat for 4 hrs (in light) before sampling. There are three biologcal replicates.

Dataset Information

Boechera species exhibit species-specific responses to combined heat and high light stress.

Publications

Boechera species exhibit species-specific responses to combined heat and high light stress.

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