An emerging picture of the seed desiccome: confirmed regulators and newcomers identified using transcriptome comparison.

ABSTRACT: Desiccation tolerance (DT) is the capacity to withstand total loss of cellular water. It is acquired during seed filling and lost just after germination. However, in many species, a germinated seed can regain DT under adverse conditions such as osmotic stress. The genes, proteins and metabolites that are required to establish this DT is referred to as the desiccome. It includes both a range of protective mechanisms and underlying regulatory pathways that remain poorly understood. As a first step toward the identification of the seed desiccome of Medicago truncatula, using updated microarrays we characterized the overlapping transcriptomes associated with acquisition of DT in developing seeds and the re-establishment of DT in germinated seeds using a polyethylene glycol treatment (-1.7 MPa)

SUBMITTER: Terrasson E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3859232 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature