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Gene expression profiling in the stem of young maritime pine trees: detection of ammonium stress-responsive genes in the apex

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Abstract

The shoots of young conifer trees represent an interesting model to study the development and growth of conifers from meristematic cells in the shoot apex to differentiated tissues at the shoot base. In this work, microarray analysis was used to monitor contrasting patterns of gene expression between the apex and the base of maritime pine shoots. A group of differentially expressed genes were selected and validated by examining their relative expression levels in different sections along the stem, from the top to the bottom. After validation of the microarray data, additional gene expression analyses were also performed in the shoots of young maritime pine trees exposed to different levels of ammonium nutrition. Our results show that the apex of maritime pine trees is extremely sensitive to conditions of ammonium excess or deficiency, as revealed by the observed changes in the expression of stress-responsive genes. This new knowledge may be used to precocious detection of early symptoms of nitrogen nutritional stresses, thereby increasing survival and growth rates of young trees in managed forests.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Junta de Andalucía (P05-AGR663) and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BIO2009-07490) to F.M.C and the research group BIO-114. We would like to thank Noé Fernández-Pozo for technical assistance. We appreciate the efforts of the two anonymous reviewers and their valuable comments and suggestions for improving the manuscript. This work is part of the activities of the Andalusian Platform for Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto Andaluz de Biotecnología, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, Universidad de Málaga, s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Javier Canales, Concepción Ávila, Francisco R. Cantón, David Pacheco-Villalobos, Sara Díaz-Moreno, Juan J. Molina-Rueda, M. Gonzalo Claros & Francisco M. Cánovas

  2. Department of Forestry Engineering, School of Forestry, Campus Universitario de Rabanales, University of Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    David Ariza & Rafael M. Navarro-Cerrillo

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  1. Javier Canales
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  2. Concepción Ávila
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  3. Francisco R. Cantón
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  4. David Pacheco-Villalobos
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  5. Sara Díaz-Moreno
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  7. Juan J. Molina-Rueda
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  9. M. Gonzalo Claros
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  10. Francisco M. Cánovas
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Correspondence to Francisco M. Cánovas.

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Communicated by K. Klimaszewska.

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Canales, J., Ávila, C., Cantón, F.R. et al. Gene expression profiling in the stem of young maritime pine trees: detection of ammonium stress-responsive genes in the apex. Trees 26, 609–619 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0625-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0625-z

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