| Autor: |
Hosseinpour B; Department of Agriculture, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST), P.O. Box 33535111, Tehran, Iran. hosseinpour@irost.ir., Sepahvand S; Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran., Kamali Aliabad K; Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Yazd, Yazd, Iran., Bakhtiarizadeh M; Department of Animal and Poultry Science, College of Aburaihan, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 3391653755, Pakdasht, Tehran, Iran. mrbakhtiari@ut.ac.ir., Imani A; Horticultural Sciences Research Institute (HSRI), Karaj, Iran., Assareh R; Young Researchers and Elite Club, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran., Salami SA; University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. |
| Abstrakt: |
Spring frost is a major limiting abiotic stress for the cultivation of almonds [Prunus dulcis (Mill.)] in Mediterranean areas or the Middle East. Spring frost, in particular, damages almond fully open flowers, resulting to significant reduction in yield. Little is known about the genetic factors expressed after frost stress in Prunus spp. as well as in almond fully open flowers. Here, we provide the molecular signature of pistils of fully open flowers from a frost-tolerant almond genotype. The level of frost tolerance in this genotype was determined for all three flowering stages and was confirmed by comparing it to two other cultivars using several physiological analyses. Afterwards, comprehensive expression profiling of genes expressed in fully open flowers was performed after being exposed to frost temperatures (during post-thaw period). Clean reads, 27,104,070 and 32,730,772, were obtained for non-frost-treated and frost-treated (FT) libraries, respectively. A total of 62.24 Mb was assembled, generating 50,896 unigenes and 66,906 transcripts. Therefore, 863 upregulated genes and 555 downregulated genes were identified in the FT library. Functional annotation showed that most of the upregulated genes were related to various biological processes involved in responding to abiotic stress. For the first time, a highly expressed cold-shock protein was identified in the reproductive organ of fruit trees. The expression of six genes was validated by RT-PCR. As the first comprehensive analysis of open flowers in a frost-tolerant almond genotype, this study represents a key step toward the molecular breeding of fruit tree species for frost tolerance. |
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