Identification of dehydration tolerance genes in triticale (x Triticosecale Wittm.) seedlings

• Author / Creator

  Badea, Cosmin

• Dehydration stress triggers many changes in plant gene expression. Triticale (x Triticosecale Wittm.) sequencing using next generation sequencing allowed identification of 107,000 transcripts of which 4,467 were differentially regulated ≥2-fold. Abscisic acid co-receptors, pyrabactin and protein phosphatases 2C were highly regulated and identified for the first time in dehydration stress. Many ABA-independent genes such as DREB/CBFs family were down-regulated or non-differentially expressed compared to non-stressed plants. This suggested that the solid polyethylene glycol system successfully led to identification of dehydration stress-specific genes from other stresses. Only 5% from the 87% annotated differentially regulated transcripts showed homology to previously identified dehydration responsive genes in wheat, maize, barley or Arabidopsis. Thus, this study revealed a larger number of novel genes potentially involved in dehydration stress, many of which were highly differentially regulated.
  Identification of differentially expressed genes and their functions during dehydration stress is essential towards improvement of dehydration tolerance crops.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Triticale
  • Dehydration stress
  • Plant science

• Graduation date

  Spring 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3DM15

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.