DEVELOPMENT RESPONSES AND TRANSCRIPTOMIC REPROGRAMMING IN Lotus japonicus UNDER ALKALINE STRESS

BABUIN; ESCARAY; GARRIZ; BORDENAVE; CAMPESTRE; MENENDEZ; ANTONELLI; RUIZ

Potrero de los Funes, San Luis

Congreso; XLVII Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2011

SAIB

Plant growth is affected in alkaline soils (associated with high concentrations of carbonates) due to a diminution of nutrient availability. It has been shown that many agronomic important legumes, as some species from the genus Lotus, are able to cope with this stress and grow in affected regions. A thorough understanding of the tolerance determinants is crucial for the generation of more resistant cultivars. However, the mechanisms involved in alkaline tolerance in these species remain still unknown. In order to add more light to our current knowledge on this field, we evaluated the effect of alkalinity in the development and molecular responses of two ecotypes of the model legume Lotus japonicus. Interestingly, we found that the ecotype MG-20 was completely tolerant to the stress conditions imposed in our assays, with no evident symptoms and all the plants reaching the reproductive stage. On the other hand, the ecotype Gifu was severely affected by alkalinity leading to leaf chlorosis and high rate of plant death. Global gene expression in leaf and root samples identified several genes with probable roles in stress tolerance, many of them being different transcription factors and protein kinases that might regulate and coordinate cell responses. The importance of these genes and the similarities with previously published reports are discussed.