title: Gene expression analysis reveals important pathways for drought response in leaves and roots of a wheat cultivar adapted to rainfed cropping in the Cerrado biome.
abstract: Drought limits wheat production in the Brazilian Cerrado biome. In order to search for candidate genes associated to the response to water deficit, we analyzed the gene expression profiles, under severe drought stress, in roots and leaves of the cultivar MGS1 Aliança, a well-adapted cultivar to the Cerrado. A set of 4,422 candidate genes was found in roots and leaves. The number of down-regulated transcripts in roots was higher than the up-regulated transcripts, while the opposite occurred in leaves. The number of common transcripts between the two tissues was 1,249, while 2,124 were specific to roots and 1,049 specific to leaves. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed a 0.78 correlation with the expression data. The candidate genes were distributed across all chromosomes and component genomes, but a greater number was mapped on the B genome, particularly on chromosomes 3B, 5B and 2B. When considering both tissues, 116 different pathways were induced. One common pathway, among the top three activated pathways in both tissues, was starch and sucrose metabolism. These results pave the way for future marker development and selection of important genes and are useful for understanding the metabolic pathways involved in wheat drought response.
authors: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Liane Balvedi
authors: LB
authors: Poersch-Bortolon
authors: Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil.
authors: Jorge Fernando
authors: JF
authors: Pereira
authors: Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Nhani
authors: Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil.|Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais, Universidade Federal de Roraima, Boa Vista, RR, Brazil.
authors: Hebert Hernán Soto
authors: HH
authors: Gonzáles
authors: Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil.
authors: Gisele Abigail Montan
authors: GA
authors: Torres
authors: Embrapa Trigo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil.
authors: Luciano
authors: L
authors: Consoli
authors: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Rafael Augusto
authors: RA
authors: Arenhart
authors: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Maria Helena
authors: MH
authors: Bodanese-Zanettini
authors: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors: Márcia
authors: M
authors: Margis-Pinheiro