Abiotic stresses influence the transcript abundance of PIP and TIP aquaporins in Festuca species

Festuca arundinacea and F. pratensis are the models in forage grasses to recognize the molecular basis of drought, salt and frost tolerance, respectively. Transcription profiles of plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs) and tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs) aquaporin genes were obtained for leaves of Festuca species treated with different abiotic stimuli. F. arundinacea plants were exposed to drought and salt stress, whereas F. pratensis plants were cold-hardened. Changes in genes expression measured with use of real time qRT-PCR method were compared between two genotypes characterized with a significantly different level of each stress tolerance. Under drought the transcript level of PIP1;2 and TIP1;1 aquaporin decreased in both analyzed F. arundinacea genotypes, whereas for PIP2;1 only in a high drought tolerant plant. A salt treatment caused a reduction of PIP1;2 transcript level in a high salt tolerant genotype and an increase of TIP1;1 transcript abundance in both F. arundinacea genotypes, but it did not influence the expression of PIP2;1 aquaporin. During cold-hardening a decrease of PIP1;2, PIP2;1, and TIP1;1 aquaporin transcripts was observed, both in high and low frost tolerant genotypes. The obtained results revealed that the selected genotypes responded in a different way to abiotic stresses application. A reduced level of PIP1;2 transcript in F. arundinacea low drought tolerant genotype corresponded with a faster water loss and a lowering of photosynthesis efficiency and gas exchange during drought conditions. In F. pratensis, cold acclimation was associated with a lower level of aquaporin transcripts in both high and low frost tolerant genotypes. This is the first report on aquaporin transcriptional profiling under abiotic stress condition in forage grasses. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13353-017-0403-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.