Four distinct types of dehydration stress memory genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

AbstractAlthough we have a good understanding of the development of shoot apical meristems (SAM) in higher plants, and the function of the stem cells (SCs) embedded in the SAM, there is surprisingly little known of its molecular responses to abiotic stresses. Here, we show that the SAM of Arabidopsis thaliana senses heat stress (HS) and retains an autonomous molecular memory of a previous non-lethal HS, allowing the SAM to regain growth after exposure to an otherwise lethal HS several days later. Using RNA-seq, we identified genes participating in establishing a SAM-specific HS memory. The genes include HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTORs (HSFs), of which HSFA2 is essential, but not sufficient, for full HS memory in the SAM, the SC regulators CLAVATA1 (CLV1) and CLV3, and several primary carbohydrate metabolism genes, including FRUCTOSE-BISPHOSPHATE ALDOLASE 6 (FBA6). We found that expression of FBA6 during HS at the SAM complements that of FBA8 in the same organ. Furthermore, we show that sugar availability at the SAM is essential for survival at high-temperature HS. Collectively, plants have evolved a sophisticated protection mechanism to maintain SCs and, hence, their capacity to re-initiate shoot growth after stress release.

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Characterization of Two cDNAs (ERD10 and ERD14) Corresponding to Genes That Respond Rapidly to Dehydration Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant and Cell Physiology ◽

10.1093/oxfordjournals.pcp.a078588 ◽

1994 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Dehydration Stress

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Acclimation, priming and memory in the response of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings to cold stress

10.1101/848606 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jan Erik Leuendorf ◽

Manuel Frank ◽

Thomas Schmülling

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Cold Stress ◽

Freezing Tolerance ◽

Physiological State ◽

Cold Treatment ◽

Freezing Resistance ◽

Cold Response ◽

Stress Memory ◽

The Impact

Because stress experiences are often recurrent plants have developed strategies to remember a first so-called priming stress to eventually respond more effectively to a second triggering stress. Here, we have studied the impact of discontinuous or sustained cold stress (4 °C) on in vitro grown Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings of different age and their ability to get primed and respond differently to a later triggering stress. Cold treatment of 7-d-old seedlings induced the expression of cold response genes but did not cause a significantly enhanced freezing resistance. The competence to increase the freezing resistance in response to cold was associated with the formation of true leaves. Discontinuous exposure to cold only during the night led to a stepwise modest increase in freezing tolerance provided that the intermittent phase at ambient temperature was less than 32 h. Seedlings exposed to sustained cold treatment developed a higher freezing tolerance which was further increased in response to a triggering stress during three days after the priming treatment had ended indicating cold memory. Interestingly, in all scenarios the primed state was lost as soon as the freezing tolerance had reached the level of naïve plants indicating that an effective memory was associated with an altered physiological state. Known mutants of the cold stress response (cbfs, erf105) and heat stress memory (fgt1) did not show an altered behaviour indicating that their roles do not extend to memory of cold stress.

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