ARS | Publication request: Linking physiology and gene expression: peanut response to abiotic stress

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 1, 2008
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Citation: Payton, P.R., Kameswara Rao, K., Burow, M., Puppala, N., Faircloth, W.H., Rowland, D. 2008. Linking physiology and gene expression: Peanut response to abiotic stress. Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Biology. Shreveport, Louisiana. March 1-3, 2008.

Technical Abstract: The future of crop production in the U.S., as well as in other areas of the world, will rely upon the crop’s ability to yield under decreased water availability and oftentimes critical heat stress. Our group has initiated research in the west Texas peanut production region investigating the effects of deficit irrigation on physiology, gene expression, and plant development on a field level. Additionally, we are exploring novel sources of germplasm by screening the U.S. mini-core collection for divergent stress response phenotypes. Our research has shown that mid-season water-deficit stress, whether accompanied by late or early season stress, has a detrimental effect on both yield and maturity. Early season water-deficit stress, in contrast, appears to have a positive effect on maturity, such that the crop from this treatment may be more mature than the full irrigation treatment. Screening of the core collection revealed significant differences between tolerant and susceptible germplasm with respect to basal thermotolerance, photosynthesis, and gene expression in response to slow-onset water-deficit stress. A total of 368 unique transcripts were up-regulated in the tolerant line under stress, but unchanged or repressed in the sensitive line. The majority of these changes were measured in samples exposed to 7 days of water-deficit stress. There were 255 down-regulated transcripts in the tolerant line in response to water-deficit stress, and similar to the up-regulated transcripts, the majority appeared after 7 days of stress. The results of this detailed study on peanut physiological genomics will be reported at this meeting.