ARS | Publication request: CHEMICALLY FORCED AND NATURAL DORMANCY PROGRESSION IN POTATO TUBERS INDUCES SIMILAR PATTERNS OF GENE EXPRESSION.

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 25, 2005
Publication Date: July 1, 2005
Citation: Campbell, M.A., Beers, L.A., Huckle, L.L., Suttle, J.C. 2005. Chemically forced and natural dormancy progression in potato tubers induces similar patterns of gene expression [Abstract]. American Society of Plant Biologists. Abstract No. 691-230.

Technical Abstract: Dormancy in plants is a poorly understood process controlled by endogenous and exogenous factors. In order to elucidate the endogenous factors regulating plant dormancy, we have established a procedure to examine global gene expression changes in potato tuber meristems during natural progression through dormancy and after artificial termination of dormancy with bromoethane (BE). Field-grown, fully dormant potato tubers were harvested in the fall of 2002 and 2003 and stored at 4°C. Dormancy was broken after short-term storage by BE treatment or by long-term storage at 4°C which resulted in an innate breakage of dormancy. Microarray analysis was conducted using the TIGR 10k potato array on RNA isolated from both BE-treated and cold-stored tuber meristems which permitted comparisons in gene expression between chemically induced and natural cessation of dormancy. BE treatment resulted in a ' 2-fold change in expression of 178 up-regulated genes and 79 down-regulated genes. Natural breakage of dormancy induced up-regulation of 99 genes and down regulation of 83 genes. A comparison of the gene profiles of chemically induced and natural dormancy breakage revealed that 9.1% of the up-regulated genes and 4.7% of the down-regulated genes were common to both treatments. More specifically, the BURP genes, (BNM2 clone derived from Brassica napus; USPs and USP like proteins; RD22 from Arabidopsis thaliana; and PG1beta from Lycopersicon esculentum) exhibited a two-fold decrease in expression following dormancy termination by either chemical or natural means.