Expression profiles of sugarcane under drought conditions: Variation in gene regulation

Abstract

Drought is a major factor in decreased sugarcane productivity because of the resulting morphophysiological effects that it causes. Gene expression studies that have examined the influence of water stress in sugarcane have yielded divergent results, indicating the absence of a fixed pattern of changes in gene expression. In this work, we investigated the expression profiles of 12 genes in the leaves of a drought-tolerant genotype (RB72910) of sugarcane and compared the results with those of other studies. The genotype was subjected to 80–100% water availability (control condition) and 0–20% water availability (simulated drought). To analyze the physiological status, the SPAD index, Fv/Fm ratio, net photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (g s) and stomatal transpiration (E) were measured. Total RNA was extracted from leaves and the expression of SAMDC, ZmPIP2-1 protein, ZmTIP4-2 protein, WIP protein, LTP protein, histone H3, DNAj, ferredoxin I, β-tubulin, photosystem I, gene 1 and gene 2 was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-PCR). Important differences in the expression profiles of these genes were observed when compared with other genotypes, suggesting that complex defense mechanisms are activated in response to water stress. However, there was no recognizable pattern for the changes in expression of the different proteins associated with tolerance to drought stress.

Enhanced Desiccation Tolerance in Mature Cultures of the Streptophytic Green Alga Zygnema circumcarinatum Revealed by Transcriptomics

“…Wang et al (2014) reported an increase in drought tolerance in transgenic tobacco resulting from an overexpression of the chloroplast-targeted chaperone DnaJ. Furthermore, an induction of DnaJ in Saccharum in response to desiccation was demonstrated by de Andrade et al (2015). The applied desiccation treatment caused Z. circumcarinatum to induce the co-chaperone as part of its stress response.…”

Transcriptional profiling of sugarcane leaves and roots under progressive osmotic stress reveals a regulated coordination of gene expression in a spatiotemporal manner

“…Comparatively, data mining analysis for sugarcane done by using the Sugarcane Expressed Sequence Tags (SUCEST) database, revealed an abundant expression of genes encoding chaperones, co-chaperones and other proteins linked to protection against stress [ 46 ].…”

Physio‐biochemical assessment and expression analysis of genes associated with drought tolerance in sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) exposed to GA3 at grand growth stage

“…Drought‐tolerant genotypes show variable patterns of gene expression, hence there will be a high degree of complexity in sugarcane crops under water stress (De Andrade et al . ).…”