Key genes involved in desiccation tolerance and dormancy across life forms.
Desiccation tolerance (DT, the ability of certain organisms to survive severe dehydration) was a key trait in the evolution of life in terrestrial environments. Likely, the development of desiccation-tolerant life forms was accompanied by the acquisition of dormancy or a dormancy-like stage as a second powerful adaptation to cope with variations in the terrestrial environment. These naturally stress tolerant life forms may be a good source of genetic information to generate stress tolerant crops to face a future with predicted higher occurrence of drought. By mining for key genes and mechanisms related to DT and dormancy conserved across different species and life forms, unique candidate key genes may be identified. Here we identify several of these putative key genes, shared among multiple organisms, encoding for proteins involved in protection, growth and energy metabolism. Mutating a selection of these genes in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in clear DT-, dormancy- and other seed-associated phenotypes, showing the efficiency and power of our approach and paves the way for the development of drought-stress tolerant crops. Our analysis supports a co-evolution of DT and dormancy by shared mechanisms that favour survival and adaptation to ever-changing environments with strong seasonal fluctuations.
Wageningen Seed Lab, Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: macecilia@ymail.com.
Maria Cecília D
MCD
Costa
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
Jill M
JM
Farrant
U.S. Department of Agriculture-ARS-MWA-PGRU, 205 Curtis Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Melvin J
MJ
Oliver
Wageningen Seed Lab, Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Wilco
W
Ligterink
Institut National de la Recherch Agronomique, UMR 1345 Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences, SFR 4207 Qualité et Santé du Végétal, 49045 Angers, France.
Julia
J
Buitink
Wageningen Seed Lab, Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Henk M W
HMW
Hilhorst
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003890:Desiccation; D055864:Droughts; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D057445:Plant Dormancy / Q000235:genetics; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*
ABI3; Arabidopsis thaliana; Conserved genes; Desiccation tolerance; Dormancy