title: Plantation forestry under global warming: hybrid poplars with improved thermotolerance provide new insights on the in vivo function of small heat shock protein chaperones.
abstract: Climate-driven heat stress is a key factor affecting forest plantation yields. While its effects are expected to worsen during this century, breeding more tolerant genotypes has proven elusive. We report here a substantial and durable increase in the thermotolerance of hybrid poplar (Populus tremula×Populus alba) through overexpression of a major small heat shock protein (sHSP) with convenient features. Experimental evidence was obtained linking protective effects in the transgenic events with the unique chaperone activity of sHSPs. In addition, significant positive correlations were observed between phenotype strength and heterologous sHSP accumulation. The remarkable baseline levels of transgene product (up to 1.8% of total leaf protein) have not been reported in analogous studies with herbaceous species. As judged by protein analyses, such an accumulation is not matched either by endogenous sHSPs in both heat-stressed poplar plants and field-grown adult trees. Quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction analyses supported these observations and allowed us to identify the poplar members most responsive to heat stress. Interestingly, sHSP overaccumulation was not associated with pleiotropic effects that might decrease yields. The poplar lines developed here also outperformed controls under in vitro and ex vitro culture conditions (callus biomass, shoot production, and ex vitro survival), even in the absence of thermal stress. These results reinforce the feasibility of improving valuable genotypes for plantation forestry, a field where in vitro recalcitrance, long breeding cycles, and other practical factors constrain conventional genetic approaches. They also provide new insights into the biological functions of the least understood family of heat shock protein chaperones.
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics, Campus de Montegancedo, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Merino
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.forename: Zhong-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gallardo
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cánovas
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D000613:Aminobutyrates / Q000494:pharmacology; D004795:Enzyme Stability / Q000187:drug effects; D016468:Forestry; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D057232:Global Warming; D050888:Heat-Shock Proteins, Small / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018869:Heat-Shock Response / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D031318:Hippocastanaceae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D032107:Populus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D000613:Aminobutyrates; D050888:Heat-Shock Proteins, Small; D010940:Plant Proteins; C003121:phosphinothricin