Metabolomics studies in drought resistant Arabidopsis thaliana

MORENO D,; COHEN A C,; PICCOLI P N,; BOTTINI R,

Mendoza

Congreso; XXXIV Reunión Científica Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2016

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

One of the most common crop productivity limiting is drought. Plants need adapt to environmental changes, which produce modifications in the metabolome. Metabolomics allows characterizing a biochemical response of an organism to a disturbance. Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important regulator of plant growth and development, generally involved in plant responses to stress. Factor transcription Hahb4 operate in the signaling cascade that controls a set of drought responses mediated by ABA, in sunflower. Transgenic Hahb4 Arabidopsis thaliana is tolerant to water stress. The objective was to study the role of drought and ABA in the primary metabolism of A. thaliana. Transgenic Hahb4 and wild type (wt) ecotype Columbia plants under well watered (ww) and drought conditions, and wt well watered sprayed whit ABA, were assayed. Plants were grown in trays with Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss as substrate, with periodic irrigation or drought, and photoperiod of 12 h. At 50 days, the aerial part was collected, extracted and derivatized. Then, the extracts were analyzed by GC-EIMS. In the ww transgenic plants decreased fatty acids (tetra, hexa-, octa- and decanoic), and increased sucrose, fructose, galactose and glutamine, respect to wt. Drought increased the most amino acids and sugars in wt plants. However, Hahb4 did not showed the same behavior under the same conditions, instead showed similar results to those of transgenic ww. Fatty acids were diminished by drought treatment in wt plants and Hahb4. ABA as stress signal, increased glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactic and acetic acid, threonine, and most fatty acids founded. These results show the role of Hahb4 in the primary metabolism in drought conditions.