Variation in Aquaporin and Physiological Responses Among Pinus contorta Families Under Different Moisture Conditions

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 1; p. 13
• Main Authors: Khan, Shanjida, Thomas, Barb R, de la Mata, Raul, Randall, Morgan J, Zhang, Wenqing, Zwiazek, Janusz J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.01.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Abundance; Amino acids; Aquaporins; Cloning; Conductance; Drought; Environmental conditions; Flowers & plants; Fluid filters; Gene expression; Membranes; Photosynthesis; Physiological responses; Physiology; Pine trees; Pinus contorta; Plant biomass; Plasma; Precipitation; Proteins; Resistance; Soil conditions; Soil moisture; Stomata; Stomatal conductance; Stress; transcript abundance; Transcription; Trees; Water purification; water use efficiency; water use efficiency; stomatal conductance; drought; photosynthesis; Pinus contorta; aquaporins; transcript abundance
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants8010013

A population of eight open pollinated families of was selected from sites varying in precipitation regimes and elevation to examine the possible role of aquaporins in adaptation to different moisture conditions. Five aquaporins encoding , , , , and were cloned and detailed structural analyses were conducted to provide essential information that can explain their biological and molecular function. All five PiconAQPs contained hydrophilic aromatic/arginine selective filters to facilitate the transport of water. Transcript abundance patterns of varied significantly across the families under varying soil moisture conditions. The transcript abundance of five remained unchanged under control and water-stress conditions in two families that originated from the sites with lower precipitation levels. These two families also displayed a different adaptive strategy of photosynthesis to cope with drought stress, which was manifested by reduced sensitivity in photosynthesis (maintaining the same rate) while exhibiting a reduction in stomatal conductance. In general, root:shoot ratios were not affected by drought stress, but some variation was observed between families. The results showed variability in drought coping mechanisms, including the expression of aquaporin genes and plant biomass allocation among eight families of .