The Heat-Shock Response and Expression of Heat-Shock Proteins in Wheat Under Diurnal Heat Stress and Field Conditions

Abstract

The occurrence of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in response to high temperature stress is a universal phenomenon in higher plants and has been well documented. However, in agriculturally important species, less is known about the expression of HSPs under natural environments. A review of the heat-shock response in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is presented and recent results on the expression of wheat HSPs under diurnal stress and field conditions are reported. In the field experiment, flag leaf blade temperatures were obtained and leaf blades collected for northern blot analysis using HSP 16.9 cDNA as a probe. Temperatures of leaf blades ranged from 32 to 35ºC under the tested field conditions at New Deal near Lubbock, Texas. Messenger RNAs encoding a major class of low molecular weight HSPs, HSP 16.9, were detected in all wheat genotypes examined. The results suggested that HSPs are synthesised in response to heat stress under agricultural production, and furthermore, that HSPs are produced in wheats differing in geographic background. In the controlled growth chamber experiment, HSP expression in two wheat cultivars, Mustang (heat tolerant) and Sturdy (heat susceptible) were analysed to determine if wheat genotypes differing in heat tolerance differ in in vitro HSP synthesis (translatable HSP mRNAs) under a chronic, diurnal heat-stress regime. Leaf tissues were collected from seedlings over a time-course and poly (A)⁺RNAs were isolated for in vitro translation and 2-D gel electrophoresis. The protein profiles shown in the 2-D gel analysis revealed that there were not only quantitative differences of individual HSPs between these two wheat lines, but also some unique HSPs which were only found in the heat tolerant line. This data provides evidence of a correlation between HSP synthesis and heat tolerance in wheat under a simulated field environment and suggests that further genetic analysis of HSPs in a segregating population is worthy of investigation. In conclusion, the results of this study provide an impetus for the investigation of the roles of HSP genes in heat tolerance in wheat.