Project description:Grafting is a well-established practice for grapevine to facilitate propagation of productive and tolerant cultivars against several stress factors. It is also considered to be a suitable method for studying molecular aspects of root-to-shoot and/or shoot-to-root signaling events. So far, controlling only effect of rootstock over scion was investigated and root-to-shoot transcriptomic alterations were fallowed on the scions or graft interfaces. The objective of this study was to investigate transcriptomic and physiological influence of scion on the rootstock under drought stress. Therefore, drought tolerant 110R rootstock were firstly grafted with sultana seedless and tested under drought stress with its non-grafted counterpart. The results of treatment indicated that grafted 110R performed the highest root elongation under drought. We carried out a microarray based transcriptome analysis on the roots of grafted and non-grafted 110R to explain this drought derived interaction through scion-to-rootstock. The highest expression increase under drought was recorded for sugar (SWEET) and nitrate or di/tri-peptide (NRT1/ PTR FAMILY) transporter proteins. Expression level of these genes was more highly increased in grafted 110R than its non-grafted counterpart. This situation indicated their potential role in drought tolerance and scion/rootstock harmony. Overexpression of these transporters attributed to increased amount of released nutrient and nitrogen source from abscised leaves of sultana seedless under drought. Remobilization of these rich sources was suggested to chance transcriptomic response of rootstocks and enabled much better growth in grafted 110R. Other transcripts annotated to cell wall modification enzymes (chitinases), osmoregulator proteins (dehydrins, proline-glycine rich proteins) and secondary metabolites (stilbene synthase) were also more highly induced in grafted 110R. This is the first report indicating transcriptomic influence of scion on the grapevine rootstocks and representing the genes responsible in scion/rootstock harmony and drought tolerance.

Project description:Citrus and most other fruit crops are commercially propagated via grafting, which ensures trees have consistent fruit traits combined with favorable traits from the rootstock such as soil adaptability, vigor, and resistance to soil pathogens. Breeding new rootstocks requires careful agronomic evaluations, and widespread use of new rootstocks and scions requires graft compatibility with commercially important scions and rootstocks. Graft incompatibility can occur when the scion and rootstock are not able to form a permanent, healthy union. Understanding and preventing graft incompatibility is therefore of paramount importance in the breeding of new fruit cultivars and in the choice of scion and rootstock by growers. The rootstock US-1283 is a citrandarin generated from a cross of ‘Ninkat’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata) and ‘Gotha Road’ #6 trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata). It was released in 2014 after years of field evaluation because of its superior productivity and good fruit quality on ‘Hamlin’ sweet orange (C. sinensis) under Florida’s growing conditions. Subsequently, it was observed that trees of ‘Bearss’ lemon (C. limon) and ‘Valencia’ sweet orange (C. sinensis) grafted onto US-1283 exhibited apparent incompatible and unhealthy growth near the graft union. The incompatibility manifested as stem grooving and necrosis underneath the bark on the rootstock side of the graft. A genetically similar citrandarin rootstock, US-812 (C. reticulata ‘Sunki’ × P. trifoliata ‘Benecke’), is fully graft compatible with the same scions. Transcriptome analysis was performed on the vascular tissues above and below the graft union of compatible US-812 and incompatible US-1283 graft combinations with ‘Bearss’ and ‘Valencia’ to identify expression networks associated with incompatibility and help understand the processes and potential causes of incompatibility in citrus. Transcriptional reprogramming was stronger in the incompatible rootstock than in the grafted scions. Functional analysis of the transcriptional events below the graft unions of US-1283 incompatible combinations revealed differentially expression genes (DEGs) associated with oxidative stress and plant defense, among other pathways, similar to a pathogen-induced immune response localized to the rootstock, although no known pathogens were detected in the assayed plants. These changes were not observed above the graft unions.Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in US-1283, but not the scions, were associated with oxidative stress and plant defense, among others, similar to a pathogen-induced immune response localized to the rootstock. No pathogen infection was detected. It is hypothesized this response could have been triggered by signaling miscommunications between rootstock and scion either through 1) unknown molecules from the scion that were perceived as danger signals by the rootstock, 2) missing signals from the scion or missing receptors in the rootstock necessary for the formation of a healthy graft union, 3) the overall perception of the scion by the rootstock as non-self, or 4) a combination of the above.

Dataset Information

Solanum lycopersicum

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets