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Differential Expression of the Transcripts of Spartina alterniflora Loisel (Smooth Cordgrass) Induced in Response to Petroleum Hydrocarbon

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Abstract

Petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) in soil are potentially toxic to plants and exert negative effect on the environment and human health. To understand the effect of PHC on the gene expression profile of a wetland plant Spartina alterniflora in the coastal Louisiana, plants were subject up to 40% PHC under greenhouse conditions. The plants exposed to PHC showed 21% reduction of leaf total chlorophyll after 2 weeks of stress. Using 20 annealing control primers, 28 differentially expressing genes (DEGs) were identified in leaf and root tissues of S. alterniflora in response to PHC stress. Eleven of these 28 DEGs had role in either molecular function (chlorophyll a-b binding protein, HSP70, NADH, RAN1-binding protein, and RNA-binding protein), biological processes (cell wall protein, nucelosome/chromatin assembly factor) or cellular function (30 S ribosomal protein). This indicated that genes in different regulatory pathways of S. alterniflora were involved in response to PHC. All DEGs showed reduced transcript accumulation in root under oil stress, whereas they showed up- or down-regulation in their transcript abundance in leaf depending on the concentration of the PHC. The genes identified through this study could be used in the genetic screen of S. alterniflora for resistance to PHC.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support from USDA-CSREES for this study is gratefully acknowledged. This manuscript is approved for publication by the Director of Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript #2011-306-6272.

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  1. School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 104 Madison B Sturgis Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Mangu Venkata RamanaRao, David Weindorf, Gary Breitenbeck & Niranjan Baisakh

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  1. Mangu Venkata RamanaRao
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  2. David Weindorf
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Correspondence to Niranjan Baisakh.

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RamanaRao, M.V., Weindorf, D., Breitenbeck, G. et al. Differential Expression of the Transcripts of Spartina alterniflora Loisel (Smooth Cordgrass) Induced in Response to Petroleum Hydrocarbon. Mol Biotechnol 51, 18–26 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-011-9436-0

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