Identification and characterization of DHN genes in Chenopodium quinoa and analysis of their expression in response to salt stress.

RIZZO, AXEL; MALDONADO, SARA; MELGAR, ALEJANDRA; BURRIEZA, HERNÁN; CENIZO, ROCÍO; ZELADA, ALICIA

Simposio; Quinoa Research Symposium; 2020

Dehydrins (DHNs), a subfamily of group II LEA (late embryogenesis abundant) proteins, are involved in responses to diverse abiotic stresses in plants. DHNs have great attractive owing their remarkable ability to confer tolerance to conditions of drought, salinity and extreme temperatures. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is a facultative halophyte plant adapted to thrive in a wide range of agroecosystems, which is interesting for stress tolerance studies. In this work, we identified all DHN genes encoded in the quinoa genome and analized their tissue-specific expression and response to salt stress. We isolated and cloned two salt-responsive DHN genes of C. quinoa, and the putative role of these proteins in stress tolerance will be evaluated by overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana. A better understanding of the relationship between dehydrins and abiotic stress will help elucidate the mechanisms through which plants respond to the environment and thus develop eficient biotechnological strategies to generate stress-resistant plants.