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Research
Response of plants to stress combinations
ABA signaling: We found that Arabidopsis plants are more susceptible to a combination of salt and heat stress compared to each of the different stresses applied individually. The stress combination resulted in a higher ratio of Na+/K+ in leaves as well as the enhanced expression of 699 transcripts unique to the stress combination. In addition, mutants deficient in ABA metabolism and signaling were found to be more susceptible to a combination of salt and heat stress than wild type plants, confirming the significance of ABA in the regulation of plant’s response to this stress combination.
ICS1: We demonstrated the enhanced tolerance of Arabidopsis salicylic acid induction deficient 2-1(sid2-1) mutant deficient in ICS1 to a combination of heat stress and drought. H2O2-dependent stomatal closure and accumulation of total soluble sugars are associated with the enhanced tolerance of sid2-1 plants to this stress combination. In addition, sid2-1 plants showed higher accumulation of reaction center proteins (D1 and D2) in photosystem II accompanied by enhanced expression of transcripts involved in repair of these reaction center proteins. Thus, maintenance of photosynthetic apparatus as well as prevention of excess water loss might enhance the tolerance of sid2-1 plants deficient in ICS1 to a combination of heat stress and drought.
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