Natural antisense transcripts of Trifolium repens dehydrins

The recently described complex nature of some dehydrin-coding sequences in Trifolium repens could explain the considerable variability among transcripts originating from a single gene.(1) For some of the sequences the existence of natural antisense transcripts (NATs), which could form sense-antisense (SAS) pairs, was predicted. The present study demonstrates that cis-natural antisense transcripts of 2 dehydrin types (Y(n)K(n) and Y(n)SK(n)) accumulate in white clover plants subjected to treatments with polyethylene glycol (PEG), abscisic acid (ABA), and high salt concentration. The isolated Y(n)K(n) cis-NATs mapped to sequence site enriched in alternative start codons. Some of the sense-antisense pairs exhibited inverse expression with differing profiles which depended on the applied stress. A natural antisense transcript coding for an ABC F family protein (a trans-NAT) which shares short sequence homology with Y(n)SK(n) dehydrin was identified in plants subjected to salt stress. Forthcoming experiments will evaluate the impact of NATs on transcript abundances, elucidating the role of transcriptional and post-transcriptional interferences in the regulation of dehydrin levels under various abiotic stresses.