Investigation of temperature stress tolerance in Arabidopsis STTM165/166 using electrophysiology and RNA-Seq

TL;DR

This study links electrical signal characteristics and gene expression changes in Arabidopsis mutants to enhanced temperature stress tolerance, revealing ion channel activity and gene regulation as key factors.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how electrical signals and gene expression relate to stress tolerance in plants, using electrophysiology and RNA-Seq analysis.

Findings

Mutant shows lower calcium channel current than wild type.

Differentially expressed AHA genes may influence depolarization.

DEGs are associated with temperature, salt, and hormone pathways.

Abstract

Plant electrical signals have been shown to be generated in response to various environmental stresses, but the relationship between these signals and stress tolerance is not well understood. In this study, we used the Arabidopsis STTM165/166 mutant, which exhibits enhanced temperature tolerance, to examine this relationship. Surface recording techniques were utilized to compare the generation ratio and duration characteristics of electrical signals in the STTM165/166 mutant and wild type (WT). Patch-clamp recording was employed to assess ion channel currents, specifically those of calcium ions. The current intensity of the mutant was found to be lower than that of the WT. As calcium ions are involved in the generation of plant electrical signals, we hypothesized that the reduced calcium channel activity in the mutant increased its electrical signal threshold. RNA-Seq analysis revealed differential expression of AHA genes in the STTM165/166 mutant, which may contribute to the prolonged depolarization phenotype. Gene Ontology enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified associations between these DEGs and various stresses, including temperature, salt, and those related to the jasmonic acid and abscisic acid pathways. These findings provide experimental evidence for the use of plant electrical signals in characterizing stress tolerance and explore potential ion mechanisms through patch-clamp recording and DEG Gene Ontology analysis. They also emphasize the need for further research on the relationship between plant electrical signals and stress tolerance.