Molecular adaptation of barley to cold and drought conditions

Summary

Molecular adaptation to cold and drought involves a series of biochemical and molecular changes leading plants to improve their winter hardiness or drought resistance.

We are interested to study the molecular basis of cold acclimation and drought response of barley to survive under stress. Several genes regulated by low temperatures and sometimes by drought have been isolated from the barley genome. In this review the most significant results of our recent work will be presented and discussed.

The protein encoded by cDNA clone pt59 and induced in barley by cold was over-expressed in E. coli to produce the matching antibody, which in vivo recognizes a cold-induced protein of 14 kDa (COR14). The COR14 is stored in amounts only slightly greater in the cold resistant ‘Onice’ than in the susceptible ‘Gitane’, although the former has a higher induction-temperature threshold of COR14 than the latter. This fact is an evolutionary advantage enabling the resistant varieties in the field to prepare for the cold well ahead of the susceptible ones.

Two other cDNA clones, paf93 and cdr29, are regulated by low temperature and drought stress but not by exogenous ABA treatment. Indeed during the early stage of dehydration, the mRNAs are expressed before the induction of known ABA regulated genes such as dehydrins and when only a small increase occurs in ABA content. The sequence analysis revealed that paf93 encodes for a protein homologous to the cold-regulated protein COR47 of Arabidopsis, whereas cdr29 represents a plant gene homologous to yeast and mammalian sequences coding for acyl-Coenzyme A oxidase.