ARS | Publication request: Abiotic stress genes in apple (Malus x domestica): response to low temperature and water deficit

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 15, 2006
Publication Date: January 13, 2007
Citation: Wisniewski, M.E., Bassett, C.L., Gasic, K., Artlip, T.S., Norelli, J.L., Korban, S. 2007. Abiotic stress genes in apple (Malus x domestica): response to low temperature and water deficit. Plant and Animal Genome Conference, January 13-17, 2007, San Diego, California. 217 p.

Technical Abstract: Survival of many crop species depends on their ability to respond to adverse environmental conditions, including low temperature extremes and drought stress. Although dehydration is a common effect of both freezing stress and drought stress, the distinction between the genetic components that respond to these stresses in apple in a unique or a collective manner has not been characterized. As a first step towards identifying patterns of gene expression in response to low temperature and water deficit, we prepared six expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries from leaves, bark, xylem, and roots of young apple trees exposed to either 5 C or water deficit conditions. Control libraries were prepared from the appropriate untreated tissues to allow identification of genes differentially expressed in a tissue- and/or treatment-specific manner. Approximately, 2,000 ESTs were obtained from each library and subjected to a comparative analysis. Although, this analysis is still in progress, a number of low temperature or water deficit stress-responsive genes identified in previous studies with other crops were also identified in apple tissues. Despite overlaps in expression of some gene families in cold- and drought-stressed tissues in this study, most of these genes represented different family members responding to either cold or drought. Expression patterns of specific genes will be confirmed by qPCR and presented.