PLANT PHYSIOLOGY , Vol 108, Issue 3 1233-1239, Copyright © 1995 by American Society of Plant Biologists
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WHOLE PLANT, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND STRESS PHYSIOLOGY |
Cold-Specific Induction of a Dehydrin Gene Family Member in Barley
K. van Zee, F. Q. Chen, P. M. Hayes, T. J. Close and THH. Chen
Department of Horticulture and Center for Gene Research and Biotechnology (K.v.Z., T.H.H.C.) and Department of Crop and Soil Science, (F.Q.C., P.M.H.), Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-7304
An interval on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) chromosome 7 accounting for
significant quantitative trait locus effects for winter hardiness were
detected in a winter (Dicktoo) x spring (Morex) barley population (P.M.
Hayes, T. Blake, T.H.H. Chen, S. Tragoonrung, F. Chen, A. Pan, and B. Liu
[1993] Genome 36: 66-71). Two members of the barley dehydrin gene family,
Dhn1 and Dhn2, were located within the region defining the winter hardiness
quantitative trait locus effect (A. Pan, P.M. Hayes, F. Chen, T. Blake,
T.H.H. Chen, T.T.S. Wright, I. Karsai, Z. Bedo [1994] Theor Appl Genet 89:
900-910). To investigate the possible role of Dhn1 and Dhn2 in winter
hardiness, we examined the expression pattern of six barley dehydrin gene
family members in shoot tissue in response to cold temperature. Incubation
of 3-week-old barley plants at 2[deg]C resulted in a rapid induction of a
single 86-kD polypeptide that was recognized by an antiserum against a
peptide conserved in the dehydrin gene family. Northern blot analysis
confirmed the induction of an mRNA corresponding to Dhn5. The expression
patterns of cold-induced dehydrins in shoot tissue for Dicktoo and Morex
were identical under the conditions studied, in spite of the known
phenotypic differences in their winter hardiness. These results, together
with the allelic structure of selected high- and low-survival lines,
suggest that the Dicktoo alleles at the Dhn1 and Dhn2 may not be the
primary determinants of winter hardiness in barley.
