TRANSCRIPTIONAL ANALYSIS OF POTATO PLANTS WITH IMPROVED TOLERANCE TO DROUGHT

PIERELLA KARLUSICH JUAN JOSÉ; ZURBRIGGEN MATÍAS; SONNEWALD SOPHIA; HAJIREZAEI MOHAMMAD REZA

Rosario

Congreso; L Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2014

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

We have already proven in tobacco a succesfull approach to gain stress tolerance. It is based on the replacement of the stress-sensitive ferrosulfoprotein ferredoxin (Fd), which is the final electron acceptor of the photosynthetic electron chain, by the stress-resistant isofunctional counterpart flavodoxin (Fld), which is present in many cyanobacteria and algae but not in plants. To evaluate this technology in a crop, we generated potato plants accumulating Fld in their plastids and we evaluated their responses to drought. Transgenic lines under drought showed a remarkably less wilted phenotype than WT. To advance our understanding into the mechanism of tolerance we carried out a transcriptome analysis of leaves after 3 days of water deficit and under control conditions. The analysis has shown differential expression (at least 2-fold change) in 4620 genes between transgenic and WT plants under drought. Furthermore, 1675 genes exhibited a differential behavior between both lines under control conditions. Most central metabolic routes were less inhibited in transgenic lines under drought than in WT, including genes coding for components of the photosynthetic apparatus (such as Fd) and Calvin cycle. Furthermore, Fld-expressing plants under drought had a lower number of induced genes involved in stress tolerance or in regulation of gene expression.