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ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ADAPTATION

What Affects mRNA Levels in Leaves of Field-Grown Aspen? A Study of Developmental and Environmental Influences¹

Umeå Plant Science Centre, Department of Plant Physiology (K.W., S.J.) and Research Group for Chemometrics, Department of Chemistry (F.P., A.B.), University of Umeå, S–901 87 Umeå, Sweden

We have analyzed the abundance of mRNAs expressed from 11 nuclear genes in leaves of a free-growing aspen (Populus tremula) tree throughout the growing season. We used multivariate statistics to determine the influence of environmental factors (i.e. the weather before sampling) and developmental responses to seasonal changes at the mRNA level for each of these genes. The gene encoding a germin-like protein was only expressed early in the season, whereas the other tested genes were expressed throughout the season and showed mRNA variations on a day-to-day basis. For six of the genes, reliable models were found that described the mRNA level as a function of weather, but the leaf age was also important for all genes except one encoding an early light-inducible protein (which appeared to be regulated purely by environmental factors under these conditions). The results confirmed the importance of several environmental factors previously shown to regulate the genes, but we also detected a number of less obvious factors (such as the variation in weather parameters and the weather of the previous day) that correlated with the mRNA levels of individual genes. The study shows the power of multivariate statistical methods in analyzing gene regulation under field conditions.

¹ This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council and Kempestiftelserna.

² Present address: Universität Rostock, Fachbereich Biowissenschaften Biochemie, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 3, 18051 Rostock, Germany.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail stefan.jansson{at}plantphys.umu. se; fax 46–90–786–66–76.

Received June 6, 2003; returned for revision August 11, 2003; accepted August 11, 2003.

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