Gene expression changes in response to drought stress in Citrullus colocynthis.
Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad, closely related to watermelon, is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. This plant is a drought-tolerant species with a deep root system, widely distributed in the Sahara-Arabian deserts in Africa and the Mediterranean region. cDNA amplified fragment length polymorphism (cDNA-AFLP) was used to study differential gene expression in roots of seedlings in response to a 20% polyethylene glycol-(PEG8000) induced drought stress treatment. Eighteen genes which show similarity to known function genes were confirmed by quantitative relative (RQ) real-time RT-PCR to be differentially regulated. These genes are involved in various abiotic and biotic stress and developmental responses. Dynamic changes with tissue-specific pattern were detected between 0 and 48 h of PEG treatment. In general, the highest induction levels in roots occurred earlier than in shoots, because the highest expression was detected in roots following 4 and 12 h, in shoots following 12 and 48 h of drought. These drought-responsive genes were also affected by the plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), or jasmonic acid (JA), indicating an extensive cross-talk between drought and plant hormones. Collectively, these results will be useful to explore the functions of these multiple signal-inducible genes for unveiling the relationship and crosstalk between different signaling pathways.
Department of Horticulture, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
Ying
Y
Si
Cankui
C
Zhang
Shasha
S
Meng
Fenny
F
Dane
D054458:Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis; D029773:Citrullus / Q000235:genetics*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D055864:Droughts; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000235:genetics; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D014867:Water / Q000502:physiology
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D018749:RNA, Plant; D014867:Water