GSE191155
Growth-limiting drought stress induces time-of-day dependent transcriptome and physiological responses in hybrid poplar
Episodic drought stress negatively impacts the health of long-lived trees. Understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underpin response to drought stress is requisite for selecting or enhancing climate change resilience. Here we aim to establish standardized drought stress protocols for transcriptome studies in poplar trees, to determine how hybrid poplars respond to prolonged and uniform exposure to drought; to determine if the responses to moderate and more severe growth-limiting drought stresses were qualitatively or quantitatively different; and, to determine how response to drought changes throughout the day. We established hybrid poplar trees (Populus x 'Okanese') from unrooted stem cutting with abundant soil moisture for six weeks. We then withheld water to establish three soil water contents reflecting well-watered, moderate, and severe growth-limiting drought conditions. Plants were rewatered as needed for three weeks to maintain the soil water conditions. The mild and severe drought treatments elicited distinct changes in growth and development, photosynthetic rates and global transcriptomic changes. Notably, the time of day of sampling was strongest signal in the transcriptome data and it quantitatively and qualitatively affected drought responsive changes in gene expression. These analyses emphasize the complex nature of drought regulation in long-lived trees. Overall design: Examination of 3 water deficit treatments of Okanese poplar seedling leaves at 2 times of day; includes 18 samples: 3 replicates each of 3 treatments at 2 timepoints