Adaptional evolution of trichome in Caragana korshinskii to natural drought stress on the Loess Plateau, China. Issue 11 (5th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ning, Pengbo; Wang, Junhui; Zhou, Yulu; Gao, Lifang; Wang, Jun; Gong, Chunmei
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 6:Issue 11(2016:Jun.)
• Page Start: 3786
• Page End: 3795
• Publication Date: 2016-05-05
• Subjects: Caragana korshinskii -- drought -- real‐time PCR -- transcriptome analysis -- trichome; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2157
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: Caragana korshinskii is commonly employed to improve drought ecosystems on the Loess Plateau, although the molecular mechanism at work is poorly understood, particularly in terms of the plant's ability to tolerate drought stress. Water is the most severe limiting factor for plant growth on the Loess Plateau. The trichome is known to play an efficient role in reducing water loss through decreasing the rate of transpiration, so in this study, we focused on the trichome‐related gene expression of ecological adaptation in C. korshinskii under low precipitation conditions. In order to explore the responses of trichomes to drought, we selected two experimental sites from wet to dry along the Loess Plateau latitude gradient for observation. Micro‐phenomena through which trichomes grew denser and larger under reduced precipitation were observed using a scanning electron microscope; de novo transcriptomes and quantitative PCR were then used to explore and verify gene expression patterns of C. korshinskii trichomes. Results showed that GIS2, TTG1, and GL2 were upregulated (as key positive‐regulated genes on trichome development), while CPC was downregulated (negative‐regulated gene). Taken together, our data indicate that downstream genes of gibberellin and cytokinin signaling pathways, alongside several cytoskeleton‐related genes, contribute to modulating trichome development to enhance transpiration resistance ability and increase the resistance to drought stress in C. korshinskii . Abstract : Caragana korshinskii has been regarded as a natural model tree species to implore how to adapt to drought stress environments because it distributed widely in the arid and semi‐arid regions of China. Few studies have concerned the mechanism of molecular regulation of trichome in response to drought. We found that trichomes play a critical role in enhancing drought resistant capacity of C. korshinskii and captured the changes in related gene expression levels, and also indicated genes interactions such as downstream genes of gibberellin and cytokinin signalling pathways alongside with several cytoskeleton‐related genes that contribute to modulating trichome development to enhance transpiration resistance ability and increase the resistance to drought stress in C. korshinskii .