Influence of short‐term drought conditions and subsequent re‐watering on the physiology and proteome of Lolium multiflorum/Festuca arundinacea introgression forms, with contrasting levels of tolerance to long‐term drought

Abstract

Festuca arundinacea is a drought tolerant species. Lolium multiflorum has better forage quality but lower tolerance to abiotic stresses. Their hybrids offer an opportunity to perform research on the molecular basis of tolerance to drought. The aim of this work was to recognise the mechanisms of response to short-term drought (11 days) in a glasshouse in two L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea introgression forms with distinct levels of tolerance to long-term drought (14 weeks) in the field. Measurements of physiological parameters, analyses of protein accumulation profiles using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry identification of proteins, which were accumulated differentially between the selected genotypes during short-term drought, were performed. Genotype 7/6, with lower yield potential during 14 weeks of drought, and lower ability to re-grow after watering, had a higher capacity for photosynthesis during 11 days of drought. Genotype 4/10, more tolerant to long-term drought, was able to repair damaged cell membranes after watering and was also characterised by lower transpiration during short-term drought. A total of 455 proteins were analysed, and the 17 that were differentially accumulated between the two genotypes were identified. The results of physiological and proteomic research led to a hypothesis that the higher photosynthetic capacity of genotype 7/6 could be due to a more efficient Calvin cycle, supported by higher accumulation of crucial proteins involving chloroplast aldolase.

Mild Drought Stress‐Induced Changes in Yield, Physiological Processes and Chemical Composition in Festuca, Lolium and Festulolium

“…Proline seems to be associated with a better drought tolerance in Festuca compared with Lolium species, which was also suggested by Perlikowski et al. (). Festulolium reacted intermediary between Lolium and Festuca .…”

To cope with drought: two forage grass species – Festuca arundinacea and F. glaucescens can activate similar survival strategies although they differ with molecular response

“…This enzyme was shown to be crucial for the efficiency of the Calvin cycle under drought conditions in our earlier experiment performed on L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea introgression forms (8,16). However, the higher abundance of pFBA during drought period was followed by its higher activity only in case of the Fg-HDR genotype.…”

“…Its efficiency can be restricted by both stomatal and non-stomatal mechanisms. Stomata closing declines CO 2 availability, whereas among the non-stomatal mechanism, a reduction of Calvin cycle efficiency was indicated to be crucial (8,14,15,16).…”

Ameliorating Drought-Induced Stress in Turfgrass through Genetic Manipulation

“…In another report, the higher photosynthetic capacity of an intergeneric hybrid of L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea was likely due to higher efficiency of Calvin cycle during the drought stress [44]. The kinetic variation observed among the antioxidant activity most likely depends on species and cultivars, time and type of stress, tissue or organ types, as well as severity of stress [28,45].…”