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Expression pattern of salt tolerance-related genes in Aegilops cylindrica

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Abstract

Aegilops cylindrica, a salt-tolerant gene pool of wheat, is a useful plant model for understanding mechanism of salt tolerance. A salt-tolerant USL26 and a salt-sensitive K44 genotypes of A. cylindrica, originating from Uremia Salt Lake shores in Northwest Iran and a non-saline Kurdestan province in West Iran, respectively, were identified based on screening evaluation and used for this work. The objective of the current study was to investigate the expression patterns of four genes related to ion homeostasis in this species. Under treatment of 400 mM NaCl, USL26 showed significantly higher root and shoot dry matter levels and K+ concentrations, together with lower Na+ concentrations than K44 genotype. A. cylindrica HKT1;5 (AecHKT1;5), SOS1 (AecSOS1), NHX1 (AecNHX1) and VP1 (AecVP1) were partially sequenced to design each gene specific primer. Quantitative real-time PCR showed a differential expression pattern of these genes between the two genotypes and between the root and shoot tissues. Expressions of AecHKT1;5 and AecSOS1 was greater in the roots than in the shoots of USL26 while AecNHX1 and AecVP1 were equally expressed in both tissues of USL26 and K44. The higher transcripts of AecHKT1;5 in the roots versus the shoots could explain both the lower Na+ in the shoots and the much lower Na+ and higher K+ concentrations in the roots/shoots of USL26 compared to K44. Therefore, the involvement of AecHKT1;5 in shoot-to-root handover of Na+ in possible combination with the exclusion of excessive Na+ from the root in the salt-tolerant genotype are suggested.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Andre Kim, from the University of California Davis, for his fruitful comments on the manuscript and Dr. M. Talebi, from Isfahan University of Technology, for his technical assistance. This research was partially supported by Grant No. 91-03-18/9275 from Isfahan University of Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran

    Mahbube Arabbeigi, Ahmad Arzani & Mohammad Mahdi Majidi

  2. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 8415683111, Iran

    Badraldin Ebrahim Sayed-Tabatabaei

  3. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Ahmad Arzani & Prasenjit Saha

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  1. Mahbube Arabbeigi
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Correspondence to Ahmad Arzani.

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Arabbeigi, M., Arzani, A., Majidi, M.M. et al. Expression pattern of salt tolerance-related genes in Aegilops cylindrica . Physiol Mol Biol Plants 24, 61–73 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-017-0483-2

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