Differential regulation of aquaporins, small GTPases and V‐ATPases proteins in rice leaves subjected to drought stress and recovery

Abstract

Mechanisms of drought tolerance are complex, interacting, and polygenic. This paper describes patterns of gene expression at precise physiological stages of drought in 35-day-old seedlings of Oryza sativa cv. Nipponbare. Drought was imposed gradually for up to 15 days, causing abscisic acid levels to rise and growth to cease, and plants were then re-watered. Proteins were identified from leaf samples after moderate drought, extreme drought, and 3 and 6 days of re-watering. Label-free quantitative shotgun proteomics resulted in identification of 1548 non-redundant proteins. More proteins were down-regulated in early stages of drought but more were up-regulated as severe drought developed. After re-watering, there was notable down regulation, suggesting that stress-related proteins were being degraded. Proteins involved in signalling and transport became dominant as severe drought took hold but decreased again on re-watering. Most of the nine aquaporins identified were responsive to drought, with six decreasing rapidly in abundance as plants were re-watered. Nine G-proteins appeared in large amounts during severe drought and dramatically degraded once plants were re-watered. We speculate that water transport and drought signalling are critical elements of the overall response to drought in rice and might be the key to biotechnological approaches to drought tolerance.

The overexpression of an Amaranthus hypochondriacus NF-YC gene modifies growth and confers water deficit stress resistance in Arabidopsis

“…WRKY33, have been reported to participate in many ABA-related responses, including the activation of ROS detoxification processes [71]. Moreover, the induction of several genes coding for RESPONSIVE TO DESSICATION 29B and for various types of small GTP-binding proteins in water stressed and/ or recovered AhNF-YC OE plants was in agreement with the critical function of these proteins in ABA membrane perception and/ or down-stream signaling events during abiotic stress signaling [72][73][74]. Additional support for a largely ABA-dependent participation in water stress resistance was the predominant down-regulated expression of several genes coding for ERD proteins, which are generally induced as part of the ABA-independent stress responses, in water-stressed and recovered plants.…”

Genome-Scale Transcriptomic Insights into Molecular Aspects of Abiotic Stress Responses in Chickpea

“…GTP-binding genes play a crucial role in a number of cellular processes in plants, such as vesicle-mediated trafficking, signal transduction, and cell division. Differential expression of these genes has previously been reported in plants under abiotic stress conditions (Mirzaei et al 2012). Oxidation-reduction process is essential to maintain cellular homeostasis via generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS).…”

Translating the Genome for Translational Research: Proteomics in Agriculture

“…For drought, label-free quantitative shotgun proteomics showed that there was a differential regulation of aquaporins. Similarly, proteins involved in signalling and transport showed differential regulation, suggesting a critical role in the overall response to drought (Mirzaei et al 2012 ). These studies are just but few from among the many research highlights.…”