Heat and water stress induce unique transcriptional signatures of heat-shock proteins and transcription factors in grapevine

Grapevine is an extremely important crop worldwide. In southern Europe, post-flowering phases of the growth cycle can occur under high temperatures, excessive light, and drought conditions at soil and/or atmospheric level. In this study, we subjected greenhouse grown grapevine, variety Aragonez, to two individual abiotic stresses, water deficit stress (WDS), and heat stress (HS). The adaptation of plants to stress is a complex response triggered by cascades of molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the expression of specific stress-related genes and metabolites. Approaches such as array-based transcript profiling allow assessing the expression of thousands of genes in control and stress tissues. Using microarrays, we analyzed the leaf transcriptomic profile of the grapevine plants. Photosynthesis measurements verified that the plants were significantly affected by the stresses applied. Leaf gene expression was obtained using a high-throughput transcriptomic grapevine array, the 23K custom-made Affymetrix Vitis GeneChip. We identified 1,594 genes as differentially expressed between control and treatments and grouped them into ten major functional categories using MapMan software. The transcriptome of Aragonez was more significantly affected by HS when compared with WDS. The number of genes coding for heat-shock proteins and transcription factors expressed solely in response to HS suggesting their expression as unique signatures of HS. However, a cross-talk between the response pathways to both stresses was observed at the level of AP2/ERF transcription factors

Phosphorus sorption in soils and sediments: Implications for phosphate supply to a subtropical river in southeast Queensland, Australia

Phosphorus (P) is often a key limiting nutrient in freshwater systems, and excessive P can result in algal blooms, with flow-on effects to aquatic food webs. P sorption is an important process in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems whereby phosphate (PO4 3-) is exchanged between liquid and solid phases. This study shows that differences in the concentration of PO4 3- in a subtropical river system during high and low flow can be attributed to differences in P sorption characterises of its catchment soils and sediments. The sediments have lower Equilibrium Phosphate Concentrations (EPC0) and higher binding energy (Kd); the surface soils have higher EPC0 and higher easily desorbed P (NH4Cl-P). A comparison of filterable reactive phosphorus (frP) in water samples collected at high and low flows, with soil and sediment EPC0, suggested that during event flows, the high EPC0 and NH4Cl-P of surface soils is producing a net movement of PO4 3- from the soil/sediment system into runoff and stream flow. At baseflow, there is more likely a net movement of PO4 3- into the riverbed sediments. This has important implications for management actions aimed at reducing P loads to river systems and downstream water storages, namely the need to increase the infiltration of rainfall to decrease the amount of PO4 3- being flushed from the surface soil.Griffith Sciences, Griffith School of EnvironmentNo Full Tex