Drought survival and dehydration tolerance in Dactylis glomerata and Poa bulbosa

Abstract

To analyse the contribution of dormancy and dehydration tolerance to drought survival of perennial grasses, we compared Poa bulbosa L., which is classified as a resurrection plant, with one of the most drought resistant cultivars of MediterraneanDactylis glomerata L. Comparing periods when dormancy was induced in Poa (summer) and not induced (winter), we aimed to ascertain the presence of differential plant responses between dormancy and dehydration tolerance and to characterise water status, sugar and dehydrin accumulation in surviving organs of Poa and Dactylis, in relation to their ability to survive intense drought. Irrespective of the dormancy status of Poa, the bulbs of this species had a final water content lower than 10% and survived an extreme drought. This could be associated with the accumulation of sucrose and the expression of a high number (>10) of dehydrins that peaked when the water content of the bulbs fell below 50%, whether this dehydration was due to dormancy induction or increasing soil water deficit. The independence of dormancy to dehydration tolerance was reinforced by the expression of a specific dehydrin (approx. 28 kDa) found only in irrigated, but dormant, tissues of Poa. The Dactylis exhibited contrasting survival between experiments (46 and 0% after a summer and winter drought, respectively). The mortality was associated with a significantly higher rate of decrease of the membrane stability of leaf bases of Dactylis in winter and with barely detectable amounts of sucrose contents in droughted roots. However, neither the water-soluble carbohydrate concentration in leaf bases nor the overall accumulation of dehydrins could be related to the contrasting survival of this Dactylis between the two seasons. Since in seeds of Poa and Dactylis, the accumulation of dehydrins was comparable with that found in droughted aerial tissues of the same species, the expression of these proteins must interact with other mechanisms to confer dehydration tolerance.