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Differential adaptation of high- and low-chill dormant peaches in winter through aquaporin gene expression and soluble sugar content

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Abstract

Plants have their own mechanisms for overcoming various stresses. In cold regions, plants are subject to stress and must enter an inherent dormancy, through several complex mechanisms, if they are to continue to exist. In winter, regulation of tonoplast and plasma membrane aquaporin genes differed in the bud cushions of the high-chill peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) cv. Kansuke Hakuto and the low-chill peach cv. Coral. In December and January, when the temperature was lowest (around 2°C), the increased expression of Pp-γTIP1 and Pp-PIP1 seen in the bud cushions of Kansuke Hakuto may have been related to the concomitant high-soluble sugar content of the cushions of this cultivar. This relationship may have made the cells highly stable and relatively unaffected by low-temperature stress owing to the presence of “glasses” that prevented ice nucleation. However, a simpler form of cold protection regulation seemed to occur in Coral, in which there was no winter increase in Pp-γTIP1 and Pp-PIP1 mRNA and a slow decline in total soluble sugar content in December and January. These results suggested that Pp-γTIP1 and Pp-PIP1, respectively, play important roles in intra- and intercellular membrane transport, enhancing cold resistance in the bud cushions of high-chill cultivars. In addition, Pp-δTIP1 and Pp-PIP2 mRNA increased at the end of endodormancy in both cultivars. This change may be induced by endodormancy-release signals and the resumption of bud activity in both cultivars.

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Abbreviations

AQP:

Aquaporin

CU:

Chilling unit

PIP:

Plasma membrane intrinsic protein

qRT-PCR:

Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

TIP:

Tonoplast intrinsic protein

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mrs. I. Oshima, Dr. Guinevere I. Ortiz, and Mr. Kusol Imsub for their expert technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Suravoot Yooyongwech, Sumiko Sugaya, Yoshihiko Sekozawa & Hiroshi Gemma

  2. Agricultural Science Section, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Kanchanaburi Campus, Saiyok, Kanchanaburi, 71150, Thailand

    Suravoot Yooyongwech

Authors
  1. Suravoot Yooyongwech
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  2. Sumiko Sugaya
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  3. Yoshihiko Sekozawa
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  4. Hiroshi Gemma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroshi Gemma.

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Communicated by A. Altman.

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Yooyongwech, S., Sugaya, S., Sekozawa, Y. et al. Differential adaptation of high- and low-chill dormant peaches in winter through aquaporin gene expression and soluble sugar content. Plant Cell Rep 28, 1709–1715 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-009-0770-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-009-0770-7

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