RESUMO
In plants, members of gene families differ in function and mode of regulation. Fine-tuning of the expression of individual genes helps plants to cope with a variable environment. Genes encoding proline dehydrogenase (PDH), the key enzyme in proline degradation, and the proline biosynthetic enzyme, Δ(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS), play an important role in responses to osmotic and drought stresses. We compared the expression patterns of three PDH and two putative P5CS genes during drought stress progression and subsequent recovery. Whereas the NtPDH1 gene was affected little by dehydration or rehydration, the NtPDH2 gene responded rapidly to both conditions, and was down-regulated under drought. The CIG1 gene, encoding cytokinin-inducible PDH, exhibited an intermediate transcription pattern. Whereas P5CS B was not affected by the stress conditions, the P5CS A gene was highly up-regulated during drought stress. CIG1 and NtPDH1 transcription was not activated, and P5CS A was only partially reduced in leaves within 24-h after rehydration, a re-watering period sufficient for large physiological changes to occur. The lack of activation of tobacco PDH genes and incomplete reduction of the P5CS A gene in leaves within 24-h of rehydration may reflect the need for the protection of plants to potential subsequent stresses. The data indicate that recovery is a specific physiological process following different patterns in leaves and roots.
Assuntos
1-Pirrolina-5-Carboxilato Desidrogenase/genética , Genes de Plantas/genética , Nicotiana/metabolismo , Prolina Oxidase/genética , Prolina/metabolismo , Água/fisiologia , 1-Pirrolina-5-Carboxilato Desidrogenase/metabolismo , Ácido Abscísico/metabolismo , Secas , Regulação Enzimológica da Expressão Gênica , Regulação da Expressão Gênica de Plantas , Pressão Osmótica , Folhas de Planta/genética , Folhas de Planta/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Raízes de Plantas/genética , Raízes de Plantas/metabolismo , Prolina/genética , Prolina Oxidase/metabolismo , Estresse Fisiológico/genética , Fatores de Tempo , Nicotiana/genética , Transcrição GênicaRESUMO
Hibernation is an energy-saving strategy adopted by a wide range of mammals to survive highly seasonal or unpredictable environments. Arctic ground squirrels living in Alaska provide an extreme example, with 6- to 9-mo-long hibernation seasons when body temperature alternates between levels near 0 degrees C during torpor and 37 degrees C during arousal episodes. Heat production during hibernation is provided, in part, by nonshivering thermogenesis that occurs in large deposits of brown adipose tissue (BAT). BAT is active at tissue temperatures from 0 to 37 degrees C during rewarming and continuously at near 0 degrees C during torpor in subfreezing conditions. Despite its crucial role in hibernation, the global gene expression patterns in BAT during hibernation compared with the nonhibernation season remain largely unknown. We report a large-scale study of differential gene expression in BAT between winter hibernating and summer active arctic ground squirrels using mouse microarrays. Selected differentially expressed genes identified on the arrays were validated by quantitative real-time PCR using ground squirrel specific primers. Our results show that the mRNA levels of the genes involved in nearly every step of the biochemical pathway leading to nonshivering thermogenesis are significantly increased in BAT during hibernation, whereas those of genes involved in protein biosynthesis are significantly decreased compared with summer active animals in August. Surprisingly, the differentially expressed genes also include adipocyte differentiation-related protein or adipophilin (Adfp), gap junction protein 1 (Gja1), and secreted protein acidic and cysteine-rich (Sparc), which may play a role in enhancing thermogenesis at low tissue temperatures in BAT.
