Temperature Effect on the Circadian Clock of the Patagonian Beech Nothofagus pumilio: Molecular Approaches in a Global Change Context

KATRIN HEER; NICOLAS BELLORA; PAULA MARCHELLI; MARCELO YANOVSKY; MAXIMILIANO ESTRAVIS-BARCALA; BIRGIT ZIEGENHAGEN; VERÓNICA ARANA

Corrientes

Congreso; XXXI Argentine Plant Physiology Congress; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

The circadian clock is a mechanism that allows the organism to anticipate periodic changes in the environment via the generation of rhythmic responses caused by a central oscillator, or clock. Circadian outputs maintain their oscillation in a wide, species dependent temperature range. Outside this range the clock no longer couples the organism´s physiology with the environment, and this could diminish the individual´s fitness. Our biological system consists of three Nothofagus tree species endemic of the Patagonian Andes, which are distributed along an attitudinal gradient that stronglycorrelates with a temperature gradient. Our main goal is to study the temperature effect on Nothofagus clock´s functioning, considering its role as a master regulator of growth and development.This talk presents the characterization of Nothofagus pumilio´s circadian clock by isolating and measuring the expression of some oscillator genes. Besides, we present the first annotated transcriptome of N. pumilio as a result of RNA-seq experiments. We will show the effect of the clock on the regulation of gene expression and the influence of the temperature on this regulation. We will discuss our results in a context of local adaptation of native tree species, and their possible responses to temperature shifts in aclimate change scenario.