Poplar trees reconfigure the transcriptome and metabolome in response to drought in a genotype- and time-of-day-dependent manner.

BACKGROUND: Drought has a major impact on tree growth and survival. Understanding tree responses to this stress can have important application in both conservation of forest health, and in production forestry. Trees of the genus Populus provide an excellent opportunity to explore the mechanistic underpinnings of forest tree drought responses, given the growing molecular resources that are available for this taxon. Here, foliar tissue of six water-deficit stressed P. balsamifera genotypes was analysed for variation in the metabolome in response to drought and time of day by using an untargeted metabolite profiling technique, gas chromatography/mass-spectrometry (GC/MS). RESULTS: Significant variation in the metabolome was observed in response the imposition of water-deficit stress. Notably, organic acid intermediates such as succinic and malic acid had lower concentrations in leaves exposed to drought, whereas galactinol and raffinose were found in increased concentrations. A number of metabolites with significant difference in accumulation under water-deficit conditions exhibited intraspecific variation in metabolite accumulation. Large magnitude fold-change accumulation was observed in three of the six genotypes. In order to understand the interaction between the transcriptome and metabolome, an integrated analysis of the drought-responsive transcriptome and the metabolome was performed. One P. balsamifera genotype, AP-1006, demonstrated a lack of congruence between the magnitude of the drought transcriptome response and the magnitude of the metabolome response. More specifically, metabolite profiles in AP-1006 demonstrated the smallest changes in response to water-deficit conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Pathway analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome revealed specific genotypic responses with respect to primary sugar accumulation, citric acid metabolism, and raffinose family oligosaccharide biosynthesis. The intraspecific variation in the molecular strategies that underpin the responses to drought among genotypes may have an important role in the maintenance of forest health and productivity.

Clone history shapes Populus drought responses.

Just as animal monozygotic twins can experience different environmental conditions by being reared apart, individual genetically identical trees of the genus Populus can also be exposed to contrasting environmental conditions by being grown in different locations. As such, clonally propagated Populus trees provide an opportunity to interrogate the impact of individual environmental history on current response to environmental stimuli. To test the hypothesis that current responses to an environmental stimulus, drought, are contingent on environmental history, the transcriptome- level drought responses of three economically important hybrid genotypes-DN34 (Populus deltoides × Populus nigra), Walker [P. deltoides var. occidentalis × (Populus laurifolia × P. nigra)], and Okanese [Walker × (P. laurifolia × P. nigra)]-derived from two different locations were compared. Strikingly, differences in transcript abundance patterns in response to drought were based on differences in geographic origin of clones for two of the three genotypes. This observation was most pronounced for the genotypes with the longest time since establishment and last common propagation. Differences in genome-wide DNA methylation paralleled the transcriptome level trends, whereby the clones with the most divergent transcriptomes and clone history had the most marked differences in the extent of total DNA methylation, suggesting an epigenomic basis for the clone history-dependent transcriptome divergence. The data provide insights into the interplay between genotype and environment in the ecologically and economically important Populus genus, with implications for the industrial application of Populus trees and the evolution and persistence of these important tree species and their associated hybrids.

Drought induces alterations in the stomatal development program in Populus.

Much is known about the physiological control of stomatal aperture as a means by which plants adjust to water availability. By contrast, the role played by the modulation of stomatal development to limit water loss has received much less attention. The control of stomatal development in response to water deprivation in the genus Populus is explored here. Drought induced declines in stomatal conductance as well as an alteration in stomatal development in two genotypes of Populus balsamifera. Leaves that developed under water-deficit conditions had lower stomatal indices than leaves that developed under well-watered conditions. Transcript abundance of genes that could hypothetically underpin drought-responsive changes in stomatal development was examined, in two genotypes, across six time points, under two conditions, well-watered and with water deficit. Populus homologues of STOMAGEN, ERECTA (ER), STOMATA DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION 1 (SDD1), and FAMA had variable transcript abundance patterns congruent with their role in the modulation of stomatal development in response to drought. Conversely, there was no significant variation in transcript abundance between genotypes or treatments for the Populus homologues of YODA (YDA) and TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM). The findings highlight the role that could be played by stomatal development during leaf expansion as a longer term means by which to limit water loss from leaves. Moreover, the results point to the key roles played by the regulation of the homologues of STOMAGEN, ER, SDD1, and FAMA in the control of this response in poplar.

Intraspecific variation in the Populus balsamifera drought transcriptome.

Drought is a major limitation to the growth and productivity of trees in the ecologically and economically important genus Populus. The ability of Populus trees to contend with drought is a function of genome responsiveness to this environmental insult, involving reconfiguration of the transcriptome to appropriately remodel growth, development and metabolism. Here we test hypotheses aimed at examining the extent of intraspecific variation in the drought transcriptome using six different Populus balsamifera L. genotypes and Affymetrix GeneChip technology. Within a given genotype there was a positive correlation between the magnitude of water-deficit induced changes in transcript abundance across the transcriptome, and the capacity of that genotype to maintain growth following water deficit. Genotypes that had more similar drought-responsive transcriptomes also had fewer genotypic differences, as determined by microarray-derived single feature polymorphism (SFP) analysis, suggesting that responses may be conserved across individuals that share a greater degree of genotypic similarity. This work highlights the fact that a core species-level response can be defined; however, the underpinning genotype-derived complexities of the drought response in Populus must be taken into consideration when defining both species- and genus-level responses.

A Human "eFP" Browser for Generating Gene Expression Anatograms.

Transcriptomic studies help to further our understanding of gene function. Human transcriptomic studies tend to focus on a particular subset of tissue types or a particular disease state; however, it is possible to collate into a compendium multiple studies that have been profiled using the same expression analysis platform to provide an overview of gene expression levels in many different tissues or under different conditions. In order to increase the knowledge and understanding we gain from such studies, intuitive visualization of gene expression data in such a compendium can be useful. The Human eFP ("electronic Fluorescent Pictograph") Browser presented here is a tool for intuitive visualization of large human gene expression data sets on pictographic representations of the human body as gene expression "anatograms". Pictographic representations for new data sets may be generated easily. The Human eFP Browser can also serve as a portal to other gene-specific information through link-outs to various online resources.