Grafting triggers differential responses between scion and rootstock

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 4; p. e0124438
• Main Authors: Kumari, Anita, Kumar, Jitendra, Kumar, Anil, Chaudhury, Ashok, Singh, Sudhir P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 13.04.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acclimation; Acclimatization; Acclimatization - genetics; Acetylcysteine; Agricultural practices; Analysis; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - drug effects; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis thaliana; Biosynthesis; Biotechnology; Buds; Drought; Flowers & plants; Flowers - drug effects; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; Food; Fruit - drug effects; Fruit - genetics; Fruit - growth & development; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Gibberellic acid; Gibberellins; Gibberellins - pharmacology; Grafting; Homeobox; Humidity; Leaves; Microarray Analysis; Organs; Phosphatase; Plant Leaves - drug effects; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - growth & development; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Roots - drug effects; Plant Roots - genetics; Plant Roots - growth & development; Seeds; Stress response; United States > US; India
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0124438

Grafting is a well-established practice to facilitate asexual propagation in horticultural and agricultural crops. It has become a method for studying molecular aspects of root-to-shoot and/or shoot-to-root signaling events. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in gene expression between the organs of the scion and rootstock of a homograft (Arabidopsis thaliana). MapMan and Gene Ontology enrichment analysis revealed differentially expressed genes from numerous functional categories related to stress responses in the developing flower buds and leaves of scion and rootstock. Meta-analysis suggested induction of drought-type responses in flower buds and leaves of the scion. The flower buds of scion showed over-representation of the transcription factor genes, such as Homeobox, NAC, MYB, bHLH, B3, C3HC4, PLATZ etc. The scion leaves exhibited higher accumulation of the regulatory genes for flower development, such as SEPALLATA 1-4, Jumonji C and AHL16. Differential transcription of genes related to ethylene, gibberellic acid and other stimuli was observed between scion and rootstock. The study is useful in understanding the molecular basis of grafting and acclimation of scion on rootstock.