RESUMO
The growth and persistence of rhizobia and bradyrhizobia in soils are negatively impacted by drought conditions. In this study, we used genome-wide transcriptional analyses to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the response of Bradyrhizobium japonicum to drought. Desiccation of cells resulted in the differential expression of 15 to 20% of the 8,453 [corrected] B. japonicum open reading frames, with considerable differentiation between early (after 4 h) and late (after 24 and 72 h) expressed genes. While 225 genes were universally up-regulated at all three incubation times in response to desiccation, an additional 43 and 403 up-regulated genes were common to the 4/24- and 24/72-h incubation times, respectively. Desiccating conditions resulted in the significant induction (>2.0-fold) of the trehalose-6-phosphate synthetase (otsA), trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (otsB), and trehalose synthase (treS) genes, which encode two of the three trehalose synthesis pathways found in B. japonicum. Gene induction was correlated with an elevated intracellular concentration of trehalose and increased activity of trehalose-6-phosphate synthetase, collectively supporting the hypothesis that this disaccharide plays a prominent and important role in promoting desiccation tolerance in B. japonicum. Microarray data also indicated that sigma(54)- and sigma(24)-associated transcriptional regulators and genes encoding isocitrate lyase, oxidative stress responses, the synthesis and transport of exopolysaccharides, heat shock response proteins, enzymes for the modification and repair of nucleic acids, and the synthesis of pili and flagella are also involved in the response of B. japonicum to desiccation. Polyethylene glycol-generated osmotic stress induced significantly fewer genes than those transcriptionally activated by desiccation. However, 67 genes were commonly induced under both conditions. Taken together, these results suggest that B. japonicum directly responds to desiccation by adapting to changes imparted by reduced water activity, such as the synthesis of trehalose and polysaccharides and, secondarily, by the induction of a wide variety of proteins involved in protection of the cell membrane, repair of DNA damage, stability and integrity of proteins, and oxidative stress responses.
Assuntos
Adaptação Fisiológica/fisiologia , Bradyrhizobium/genética , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica , Adaptação Fisiológica/genética , Bradyrhizobium/efeitos dos fármacos , Bradyrhizobium/fisiologia , Desastres , Regulação Bacteriana da Expressão Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Genes Bacterianos/genética , Genoma Bacteriano , Glucosiltransferases/genética , Espectroscopia de Ressonância Magnética , Viabilidade Microbiana/efeitos dos fármacos , Viabilidade Microbiana/genética , Mutação , Análise de Sequência com Séries de Oligonucleotídeos , Monoéster Fosfórico Hidrolases/genética , Polietilenoglicóis/farmacologia , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase Reversa , Transcrição Gênica/efeitos dos fármacos , Ativação Transcricional , Trealose/metabolismoRESUMO
A SAG12:ipt gene construct, which increases cytokinin biosynthesis in response to senescence, was introduced into Arabidopsis plants to delay senescence induced by flooding stress. Two forms of flooding stress, including total submergence and root waterlogging, were applied to SAG12:ipt (IPT) and wild-type (WT) plants for 1, 3, and 5 d. A separate experiment compared the recovery of WT and IPT plants subjected to flooding stress. Biomass accumulation, carbohydrate and chlorophyll contents, and cytokinin and abscisic acid were quantified to compare genotypic responses to flooding stress and post-flooding recovery. Real-time RT-PCR studies were performed to quantify ipt and SAG12 gene expression. IPT plants exposed to waterlogging accumulated greater quantities of cytokinins more rapidly than WT plants or those exposed to total submergence. Cytokinin accumulation was accompanied by phenotypic adaptations, including chlorophyll retention and increased biomass and carbohydrate content relative to WT plants. Abscisic acid accumulated rapidly in WT and IPT plants under waterlogging stress but remained low in all genotypes exposed to total submergence. IPT plants showed improved recovery after waterlogging stress was removed. Expression of ipt in submerged plants did not result in cytokinin accumulation until submergence stress was removed. At that point, IPT plants accumulated greater quantities of cytokinin and recovered to a greater extent than WT plants. This study established the relationship between flooding tolerance and cytokinin accumulation in IPT plants and suggested that translation of ipt transcripts and subsequent cytokinin accumulation were delayed under submergence stress.
