ARS | Publication request: Transcript initiation in three peach (Prunus persica L., Batsch.) dehydrins: tissue specificity differences in two promoters

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 2, 2006
Publication Date: July 16, 2007
Citation: Bassett, C.L., Artlip, T.S., Richart, G.A., Wisniewski, M.E., Farrell, R.E. 2007. Transcript initiation in three peach (Prunus persica L., Batsch.) dehydrins: tissue specificity differences in two promoters. HortScience.

Technical Abstract: Plants must adapt to environmental stresses to survive. As a result, they have evolved numerous strategies to reduce stress-induced damage, ranging from adaptive morphological features to changes in gene expression which protect cellular components. A family of genes known as dehydrins has a role in stress protection specifically related to cold, dehydration and salt exposure. We have been analyzing the expression of three dehydrin family members in peach, PpDhn1-3. All three genes are expressed in various tissues in the order bark > leaf > xylem > root > fruit. In addition, we have previously demonstrated that PpDhn1 and 3 are primarily responsive to cold, whereas, PpDhn2 is primarily responsive to water deficit. Here, we present the results of RNA Ligase-Mediated Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RLM-RACE) to identify the transcription start sites for these three genes in bark and fruit tissues. The results indicate that PpDhn1 and 2 utilize different transcription start sites in developing fruit compared to bark sampled in July or December, whereas, PpDhn3 initiates at the same site in bark and developing fruit.