title: Transcriptional homeostasis of a mangrove species, Ceriops tagal, in saline environments, as revealed by microarray analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Differential responses to the environmental stresses at the level of transcription play a critical role in adaptation. Mangrove species compose a dominant community in intertidal zones and form dense forests at the sea-land interface, and although the anatomical and physiological features associated with their salt-tolerant lifestyles have been well characterized, little is known about the impact of transcriptional phenotypes on their adaptation to these saline environments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We report the time-course transcript profiles in the roots of a true mangrove species, Ceriops tagal, as revealed by a series of microarray experiments. The expression of a total of 432 transcripts changed significantly in the roots of C. tagal under salt shock, of which 83 had a more than 2-fold change and were further assembled into 59 unigenes. Global transcription was stable at the early stage of salt stress and then was gradually dysregulated with the increased duration of the stress. Importantly, a pair-wise comparison of predicted homologous gene pairs revealed that the transcriptional regulations of most of the differentially expressed genes were highly divergent in C. tagal from that in salt-sensitive species, Arabidopsis thaliana.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work suggests that transcriptional homeostasis and specific transcriptional regulation are major events in the roots of C. tagal when subjected to salt shock, which could contribute to the establishment of adaptation to saline environments and, thus, facilitate the salt-tolerant lifestyle of this mangrove species. Furthermore, the candidate genes underlying the adaptation were identified through comparative analyses. This study provides a foundation for dissecting the genetic basis of the adaptation of mangroves to intertidal environments.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Renchao
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Suisui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Yelin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Cairong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Suhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D004777:Environment; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D043982:Rhizophoraceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D054712:Salinity; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger