Project description:Dissecting freezing stress responses in perennial grass timothy (Phleum pratense L.) using cultivars with different adaptation backgrounds
Project description:Dissecting freezing stress responses in perennial grass timothy (Phleum pratense L.) using cultivars with different adaptation backgrounds
Project description:This study investigated temporal transcriptomic changes in response to nasal allergen challenge of titrated timothy grass pollen. This is an open single-center observational study conducted outside the pollen season. Twelve participants with seasonal allergic rhinitis underwent a control (diluent) challenge followed by nasal allergen challenge after an interval of 14 days. On each challenge day, nasal challenge with control or titrated timothy grass pollen (Aquagen, phleum pratense; ALK) was administered. Peripheral blood was collected before nasal challenge (baseline) and at 3, 6 and 24 hours following challenge. RNA was extracted from whole blood and CD4 cells for microarray experiment using Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays.
Project description:The predicted increase in frequency and duration of winter warming episodes (WWEs) at the higher northern latitudes is expected to negatively impact the forage production in this region. The formation of non-permeable ice cover due to WWEs could subject the plants to hypoxic or anoxic conditions leading to severe winter damages. Knowledge about molecular mechanisms underlaying various winter stress is crucial to develop cultivars with better winter survival under changing climatic conditions. In the current study, we aimed at identifying genes involved in ice encasement stress responses in a perennial forage grass timothy and study gene expression differentiation due to field survival using timothy cultivars from diverse genetic backgrounds. The LD50 (the number of days under ice that kill 50% of the plants) varied across cultivars and origin. The expression of many genes involved in hypoxia and freezing stress responses were highly upregulated under ice encasement conditions. Functional analysis of DEGs revealed that the upregulated genes were linked to glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, carbon metabolism, biosynthesis of amino acids while downregulated genes were related to photosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. The results from a current study indicate a substantial overlap of ice encasement stress responses with those of hypoxic and freezing stresses. In addition, the potential strategies leading to higher ice encasement tolerance of timothy are outlined. Furthermore, differences in gene expression between field survivors and original material and the differences between ice encasement responses of northern adapted cultivar and southern adapted cultivar are briefly discussed.
Project description:The sustainable production of perennial grasses in Northern Norway is at risk due to the ongoing climate change. The predicted increase in temperatures and variable weather patterns are further expected to create challenges for winter survival of timothy. Therefore, knowledge about the molecular mechanisms underlying freezing tolerance is crucial for developing robust cultivars. The current study is aimed at identifying genes involved in the freezing stress response of Timothy and studying gene expression differentiation due to field selection in contrasting environments. Four timothy cultivars, namely Engmo, Noreng, Grindstad and Snorri were field tested for three years at locations Tromsø and Vesterålen in Northern Norway. The surviving material from the field tests along with plants raised from the original seed lots were subjected to freezing tests. Following the tests, crown tissue was collected for RNA extraction. All samples from different treatment points were paired-end sequenced at 20 million reads/sample. LT50 values varied across cultivars and materials. Plant material from cold-acclimated (CA) samples was used as controls, while two pools for each cultivar were made of plant material from temperature points below the LT50, one with the higher temperatures termed Treatment 1 (T1) and one with the lower temperatures termed Treatment 2 (T2). Many genes coding for transcription factors and proteins which are known to play an important role in freezing tolerance like dehydrins, c-repeat binding factors, late embryogenesis abundant proteins are upregulated with decreasing temperatures. Moreover, genes associated with glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, TCA cycle, glutathione metabolism, proteasome, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism pathways and genes encoding heat shock proteins, autophagy-related, plasma membrane-associated proteins, sugar and amino acid transporters had elevated expression in field survivors compared to plants raised from the original material. These DEGs might be crucial for winter survival of timothy in a changing climate. Furthermore, differences in freezing stress response between northern and southern adapted cultivars, and surviving material from two field trial locations are discussed briefly
Project description:Improvement of freezing tolerance of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) would increase its persistence under cold climate. In this study, we assessed the freezing tolerance and compared the proteome composition of non-acclimated and cold-acclimated plants of two initial cultivars of red clover: Endure (E-TF0) and Christie (C-TF0) and of populations issued from these cultivars after three (TF3) and four (TF4) cycles of phenotypic recurrent selection for superior freezing tolerance. Through this approach, we wanted to identify proteins that are associated with the improvement of freezing tolerance in red clover. Recurrent selection performed indoor is an effective approach to improve the freezing tolerance of red clover. Significant improvement of freezing tolerance by recurrent selection was associated with differential accumulation of a small number of cold-regulated proteins that may play an important role in the determination of the level of freezing tolerance.