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Autotetraploidization enhances drought stress tolerance in two apple cultivars

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Abstract

Key message

It reports relevant traits of diploid and autotetraploid apple plants (‘Hanfu’ and ‘Gala’) in response to drought. The differences indicate that apple plants (‘Hanfu’ and ‘Gala’) may differ in their response to drought stress depending on ploidy level.

Abstract

The induction of polyploidy ameliorates the adverse effects of drought in many plants. In this study, the tolerance responses of diploid and autotetraploid apple with two cultivars were compared under drought stress treatment induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG)-6000 in the laboratory. Autotetraploid apple plants were previously induced in vitro from the diploid apple (Malus × domestica, 2n = 2x = 34) cultivar ‘Hanfu’ and ‘Gala’ by colchicine treatment. In this study, we elucidated the effects of drought stress on apple by investigating the following parameters in leaves: relative water content (RWC), proline content, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and expression of key aquaporin genes. Under drought stress, autotetraploid apple had higher RWC and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and lower levels of MDA and proline compared with diploid apple. Key aquaporins genes were induced in leaves in response to PEG6000 treatment, including MdPIP1;1 and MdTIP1;1. The expression of these genes induced under drought stress treatment, and the genes were expressed at lower levels in the autotetraploid than in the diploid. Our combined physiological and molecular data reveal that polyploidization can enhance drought tolerance in ‘Hanfu’ and ‘Gala’ apple.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from China National Natural Science Foundation (No. 31101525) and (No. 31171927); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Grant (No. 2014M561251); Cultivation Plan for Youth Agricultural Science and Technology Innovative Talents of Liaoning Province (No. 2014045); Innovation team of Liaoning Province (No. LT2014014); Science and Technology Program of Liaoning Province (No. 2014204004); Science and Technology Program of Liaoning Province (No. 2015207005).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. College of Horticulture, Shenyang Agricultural University, 110161, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China

      Hao Xue, Bing Zhang, Yue Ma & Zhihong Zhang

    2. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University, 110161, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China

      Feng Zhang

    3. College of Forestry, Shenyang Agricultural University, 110161, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China

      Xiujun Lu

    4. College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, 110161, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China

      Feng Wang

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    1. Feng Zhang
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    Correspondence to Yue Ma.

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    Communicated by J. Carlson.

    F. Zhang and H. Xue contributed equally to this work.

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    Zhang, F., Xue, H., Lu, X. et al. Autotetraploidization enhances drought stress tolerance in two apple cultivars. Trees 29, 1773–1780 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1258-4

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