Abstract
Metabolomics analysis of wild type Arabidopsis thaliana plants, under control and drought stress conditions revealed several metabolic pathways that are induced under water deficit. The metabolic response to drought stress is also associated with ABA dependent and independent pathways, allowing a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms in this model plant. Through combining an in silico approach and gene expression analysis by quantitative real-time PCR, the present work aims at identifying genes of soybean metabolic pathways potentially associated with water deficit. Digital expression patterns of Arabidopsis genes, which were selected based on the basis of literature reports, were evaluated under drought stress condition by Genevestigator. Genes that showed strong induction under drought stress were selected and used as bait to identify orthologs in the soybean genome. This allowed us to select 354 genes of putative soybean orthologs of 79 Arabidopsis genes belonging to 38 distinct metabolic pathways. The expression pattern of the selected genes was verified in the subtractive libraries available in the GENOSOJA project. Subsequently, 13 genes from different metabolic pathways were selected for validation by qPCR experiments. The expression of six genes was validated in plants undergoing drought stress in both pot-based and hydroponic cultivation systems. The results suggest that the metabolic response to drought stress is conserved in Arabidopsis and soybean plants.
Highlights
Crop plants are often exposed to various biotic and abiotic stress factors that may impair their growth, development and affect productivity (Kang et al, 2002; Mahajan and Tuteja, 2005)
The metabolic pathways of Arabidopsis involved the synthesis and degradation of metabolites during drought stress were selected based on information from the literature (Sanchez et al, 2008; Bundy et al, 2009; Urano et al, 2009; Hey et al, 2010)
This procedure allowed us to select 80 genes from Arabidopsis belonging to 39 different metabolic pathways that are regulated during water deficit (Table S2)
Summary
Crop plants are often exposed to various biotic (viruses, bacteria and fungi) and abiotic stress factors (such as water deficit and salinity) that may impair their growth, development and affect productivity (Kang et al, 2002; Mahajan and Tuteja, 2005). Damage caused by these stresses represents a major concern for producers, consumers and governments, especially in relation to crops of great economic importance, such as wheat, corn and soybean, whose losses may range between 78%-87% of maximum yield under ideal conditions (Bray et al, 2000). In 2008-2009, losses due to Guimarães-Dias et al
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