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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Kearneysville, West Virginia » Appalachian Fruit Research Laboratory » Innovative Fruit Production, Improvement, and Protection » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #216802
Title: Proteomic analysis of chemical priming of drought stress resistance in crab apple seedlings

Author
item Macarisin, Dumitru
item Wisniewski, Michael
item Bassett, Carole

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2007
Publication Date: 1/10/2008
Citation: Macarisin, D., Wisniewski, M.E., Bassett, C.L. 2008. Proteomic analysis of chemical priming of drought stress resistance in crab apple seedlings. Plant and Animal Genome Conference. San Diego, CA. Book of Abstracts. Pg. 34.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Environmental stresses, such as extreme temperatures, drought, and salinity, are among the most important factors affecting both tree vigor and fruit quality. The ability of plants to resist these stresses can be significantly enhanced by the application of specific chemical compounds. This process is referred to as chemical priming. In a variety of annual crops and some model plant species, the non-protein, amino acid, b-aminobutyric acid (BABA), has been shown to enhance disease resistance and in Arabidopsis, also increase salt and drought tolerance. However, there are no reports on BABA-induced resistance in woody species. Additionally, the metabolic pathways through which BABA mediates both abiotic and biotic stress resistance are still being elucidated. In the present study, drought tolerance of four-week-old crab apple (Malus prunifolia) seedlings was significantly increased (P < 0.05) following a soil drench treatment with 500 uM BABA. On the tenth day after cessation of watering, the level of water loss in BABA-primed seedlings was two- to three-fold less than that of untreated plants, clearly indicating the ability of BABA to induce resistance against abiotic stress in perennial plants. 2-D Difference Image Gel Electrophoresis (DIGE) is being utilized to characterize and compare differences in protein expression in leaf tissue sampled from the various treatments. A comparison of the proteomes of control, ABA- and BABA-treated tissue will be presented and discussed.