4.2. Expression Profiling of Wild Barley Accessions Under Salt and PEG Stress
The proteins associated with abiotic stress tolerance can be classified in three major groups [
73]. The first group consists of heat shock proteins (
HSPs),
LEA proteins, osmoprotectans and antioxidant enzymes that protect plant cells against damaging effects [
74]. The second group includes proteins involved in signaling and transcriptional control such as mitogen-activated protein kinases (
MAPKs), Calcium-dependent protein kinases (
CDPKs) [
75] and
SOS kinase [
76], phospholipases [
77] and transcription factors [
78]. The third group includes the proteins involved in water an ion uptake and transport [
79]. Most genes identified in our microarray fall into these general categories. In the following sections, various examples of these differentially expressed genes were briefly discussed.
Jasmonic acid (
JA) is an important plant hormone associated with abiotic stress tolerance [
80]. We identified differentially expressed genes involved in JA responses after salt treatment such as the genes encoding a jasmonate-induced protein and a thionin. The gene encoding a jasmonate-induced protein, 60kDa (
JIPS60) (Contig3501_at) was induced in the leaves (3h, 27h) of both accessions. In barley, the
JIPS60 gene plays a role as cellular messenger for translation in stress, and in recent studies, it has been stated that
JIP60 may be a candidate Quantitative trait locus (QTL) for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance [
81]. This gene was up-regulated in the roots of 23-70, proving that up-regulated
JIP60 during salt stress inhibits plant growth and protects against stress [
82,
83].
Another gene encoding a thionin precursor (Contig1568_x_at) was up-regulated in the leaves (3h,27h) 23-70 by both stresses. Thionins are defined as components of plant immunity against environmental stress factors [
84]. Our results are consistent with those by Gao et al. [
85] who reported that the JA pathway was activated in the leaves of a salt tolerant barley genotype.
Abscisic acid (ABA) is another plant hormone associated with stress tolerance in plants. ABA levels increase under salt and drought stress in plants [
86]. Our analysis identified a gene encoding an abscisic acid- and stress-induced protein (Contig8961_at) in the leaves of 20-40 by both salt (3h) and PEG (3h,27h). Interestingly, this gene was downregulated in 20-40 and 23-70 roots (3h) by salt. No alterations at the transcript levels of this gene in the leaves of 23-70 could be observed. However, this gene was down-regulated by both salt (3h) and PEG (3h, 27h) in the roots of 23-70. Abscisic acid responsive element-binding factor (
ABF3) gene encodes the transcription factor associated with the expressions of ABA responsive genes and controls expression of stress-responsive genes [
87]. Overexpression of
ABF3 increases tolerance to drought stress [
88,
89]. It is hypothesized that, the drought tolerance provided by the overexpression of
ABF3 is associated with the decrease in transpiration, the decrease in ROS accumulation and also with the increase in the amount of chlorophyll [
89]. Similarly, in this study, abscisic acid responsive element binding factor (
ABF3) (Contig15982_at) was induced in 20-40 leaves treated with PEG (3h). Also, several ABA signaling related genes associated with drought response were also identified from both cultivated [
85] and other wild barley populations from Israel [
31].
Dehydrins (DHNs) constitute a distinct biochemical group of Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, which is known as group 2 LEA (or LEA II) proteins [
90]. These proteins are known to accumulate during late embryogenesis or can be induced in vegetative tissues by drought, salinity, cold, and heat [
91]. In studies, it has been reported that while dehydrin 9 gene is generally affected by drought stress, it has no expression changes in salt stress [
92]. Interestingly, in our study, a gene encoding a dehydrin 9 protein (Contig1718_s_at) was induced in the leaves (3h,27h) and the roots (3h,27h) of 20-40 by both stresses. In a study conducted on two wild barley genotypes, it was reported that the gene expression of some dehydrin transcripts (Dehydrin 1,3,5,6,9) including the dehydrin 9 gene, could reveal quantitative differences according to differential drought tolerance [
93]. On the other hand, it is also stated that the expression of especially Dehydrin 3 and Dehydrin 9 genes is positively correlated with osmotic regulation, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b contents and plant biomass [
94]. Similarly, in our study, this gene was induced only in the roots (27h) of 23-70 and also in the leaves (3h,27h) and the roots (3h,27h) of 20-40 treated with PEG.
ROS (reactive oxygen species) accumulate in plants as a result of stress exposure leading to cellular damage, if not removed timely [
95]. Some peroxidases are involved in removing ROS while others can use ROS as substrate [
95]. Peroxidase tends to activate related signal pathways in plant resistance, against biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent studies show that the interactions between these peroxidases with various antioxidant properties play a critical role in regulating stress responses [
96]. Our analysis has identified several peroxidase encoding genes differentially expressed in either the roots or the leaves of the two wild barley accessions. For instance, a peroxidase (rbah13p07_s_at) encoding gene was down-regulated by salt treatment in the leaves of both (23-40:3h, 20-40:3h,27h) accessions. In addition, this gene was down-regulated by PEG in the leaves (3h,27h) of both accessions. Similarly, a gene encoding a peroxidase 2 precursor (Contig2112_at) was down-regulated in the leaves (3h) and roots (3h) of 23-40 and in the roots (3h) of 20-40 by PEG. Based on the drought stress researches, existence of peroxidase gene among the significant down regulated genes in leaf tissue of drought tolerant barley genotype (Otis) has been identified [
97]. İn our work, down regulation of peroxidase genes in leaf tissues of both 20-40 and 23-70, under PEG treatment has shown parallel results with this research. According to many researches on salt stress [
98,
99] enzymatic and non enzymatic activity and expression of antioxidants has been shown to increase in salt stress resistant plants after rising the ROS following the salt treatment. Similarly, in a study [
15] in Tunisian barley accessions (Boulifa: salt-tolerant and Testour: salt-sensitive) treated with 200mM salt stress (2, 8, and 24 h), the expression of several peroxidase genes increased in a genotype specific manner in leaf tissues.
In another study [
100], it was reported that these protective enzyme activities produced against ROS are more in leaves than in roots, as water transpiration can be reduced by stomata adjusting in leaves against drought, while roots are more exposed to water stress than leaves. In our study, similar to the Ge et al. [
100], it was revealed that a decrease in gene expression of protective enzymes could be observed as a result of disruptions in cell membranes. In this study, another gene encoding a putative peroxidase (Contig1865_at) was up-regulated in 23-70 leaves (3h) only by PEG, suggesting that similarly, several ROS-related genes associated with drought response were identified from other wild barley populations from Israel [
31] and Egypt [
63].
Germins and germin-like proteins (
GLPs)/oxalate oxidase-like protein constitute a ubiquitous family of plant proteins that are involved in many developmental and abiotic stress-related processes [
101] For instance, an oxalate oxidase (
OxO) encoding gene (Contig3017_at) was upregulated in the roots (3h,27h) of both accessions by both stresses. In studies, it has been reported that abiotic stresses such as salt and heat can increase the expression and activation of oxalate oxidase in barley root tissue [
102,
103]. On the other hand, the knowledge that H
2O
2 production via oxalate oxidase is necessary for drought stress tolerance has also been reported [
104]. Similarly, in other studies carried out on salt stress [
105] and drought stress [
106] in barley, it was also determined that oxalate oxidase genes are highly expressed in root tissue, and these results are similar to those found in root tissue.
Glutathione (
GSH) acts as an anti-oxidant by quenching reactive oxygen species and is involved in the ascorbate–glutathione cycle that eliminates damaging peroxides. Glutathione synthetase is an enzyme involved in glutathione biosynthesis [
107,
108]. A gene encoding a putative glutathione synthetase (Contig21604_at) was down-regulated by both salt (23-70:3h, 20-40:3h,27h) and PEG (3h,27h) in both accessions while in 23-70 this gene was up-regulated by PEG (3h,27h). Glutathione transferases (
GSTs) can also be induced by biotic or abiotic stresses [
109] and plays a key role in the antioxidant enzyme system [
110]. Our analysis identified several glutathione transferase encoding genes up-regulated in wild barley during stress. For instance,
Glutathione-S-transferase 2 (Contig21640_at and Contig5838_at),
Glutathione S-transferase GST 37 (Contig15282_at) were up-regulated in the roots (3h) of 23-70 by both stresses while in 20-40 roots (3h),
Glutathione-S-transferase 2 (Contig21640_at) and
Glutathione S-transferase GST 37 (Contig15282_at) were up-regulated by salt and PEG, respectively. Some studies have reported that, under ABA osmotic stress, glutathione S-transferase
AtGSTU17 knockout mutants of Arabidopsis, show drought and salt stress tolerance [
111]. In recent studies, it was determined that overexpression of the
GST gene in Arabidopsis [
112] and maize [
110] significantly reduced drought tolerance, while overexpression of the 3 orthologous populus
GST genes increased salt and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis [
113]. From this point of view, in our study, the up regulation profile of the
GST gene determined in root tissue did not show a clear distinction between 23-70 and 20-40, in terms of drought and salt stress tolerance.
Protein kinases are involved in protein phosphorylation events associated with signal transduction during stress adaptation [
114]. Protein kinases can alter the amino acids activities by catalyzing the γ-phosphate transfer from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to a specific amino acid. These findings suggest that protein kinases are involved in many aspects of cellular regulation and metabolism [
115]. A gene encoding a
putative leucine rich repeat containing protein kinase (Contig24926_at) was up-regulated in the leaves (27h) of 20-40 by salt.In the study on drought-tolerant (Otis) and drought-sensitive (Baroni) genotypes of barley, similar to the results of our study, it was emphasized that under drought stress, protein kinases (
serine/threonine protein kinase, leucine-rich receptor-like protein kinase family protein isoform) are common reduced genes in the leaf tissue of both genotypes and also it was reported that 6 different protein kinase genes were significantly down-regulated in drought-sensitive ʺBaronesseʺ [
97]. Similarly, a gene encoding a
serine/threonine kinase-like protein (Contig 25448_at) was down regulated in the leaves (3h,27h) of 23-70 by PEG. In the same study [
97], it was described that many protein kinases were down-regulated in Baronesse compared to Otis, and protein kinase genes may be one of the candidate factors related to drought tolerance. From this point of view, it can be considered that the drought tolerance of 20-40 is higher than that of 23-70. Dehydration and high salinity were reported to induce the expression of
SPK3 (
serine/threonine protein kinase 3) [
116]. Our analysis also identified a gene encoding a putative protein kinase
SPK-3 (HR01N22u_s_at) up-regulated in the leaves (3h,27h) of 20-40 by PEG. In addition, a gene encoding a
serine/threonine kinase-like protein (Contig 25448_at) was down-regulated in the leaves (3h,27h) of 23-70 by PEG. In another study [
117], conducted to detect important genes for drought tolerance in barley through transcriptomic data mining, it was emphasized that the serine/threonine protein kinase/threonine-specific protein kinase gene is among the top candidate genes.
In recent studies in plants, it has been reported that
MAPK (Mitogen-activated protein kinase) cascades are involved in the regulation of many biological processes such as cell division, plant growth, and hormonal response, as well as in the response to stress factors such as drought, salt, heat and pathogen infection [
118]. We identified a gene encoding a
MAP kinase (Contig15489_at) down-regulated by both stresses in the leaves (3h) of 23-70 and in the roots (3h) of 20-40. Dudziak et al. [
119] reported that some
MAPK genes were significantly expressed in short-term (3h and 6h) under drought stress. The
MAPK gene expression in both stresses in our study supports these studies. Similarly, several genes encoding protein-phosphorylation-related proteins that may be associated with drought tolerance were also identified from other wild barley populations from Israel [
31].
Transcription factors (
TFs) that control gene expression under stress conditions play an important role during stress adaptation. For instance, the
bZIP TFs regulate several biochemical processes that protect plants under drought and high salinity [
120]. Basic leucine zippers (
bZIPs) have been shown to confer stress resistance via triggering expression of stress-responsive genes, especially by binding to ABA-responsive elements in their promoters [
120,
121]. Abscisic Acid Responsive Elements-Binding Factor (
ABF3) is a
bZIP protein that regulates key aspects of plant seed development and abscisic acid signaling (Kang et al. 2002). In many studies, it has been reported that the
ABF3 gene is induced by ABA application and osmotic stress, especially in vegetative organs [
122,
123], and the
ABF3 gene activates the relevant stress responsive genes by binding to the ABA-responsive element.
ABF3 overexpression in alfafa [
89] and rice [
89] increased drought tolerance. Parallel to these studies, our analyses identified an ABF3-like gene (Contig15982_at) up-regulated in 20-40 leaves (3h) by PEG. As another transcription factor,
MYB transcription factors are implicated in stress and developmental responses [
125]. Overexpression of
OsMYB3R-2 increased tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses in Arabidopsis [
126], while heterologous expression of
TaMYB3R1 increased drought and salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants [
127]. In recent years, it has been reported that ectopic expression of
ZmMYB3R in Arabidopsis can lead to higher ABA content, increasing stomatal closure to minimize water loss, thereby increasing stress tolerance [
125]. A gene encoding a MYB-related transcription factor (Contig3875_s_at) was down-regulated by both stresses (3h) only in 20-40.
DnaJ gene expression has been shown as a potential index of drought tolerance [
128].
DnaJ proteins, also known as heat shock protein 40 (
Hsp40), are important partners of
Hsp70 proteins [
128].
DnaJ (
Hsp40), a heat shock protein, is a molecular chaperone responsive to various environmental stresses [
129].
DnaK (
Hsp70) proteins are also induced by changing various environmental stresses and believed to function in the protection and recovery of cells from the ill effects of stress [
130]. A gene encoding a DnaK-type molecular chaperone
HSP70 (L32165_s_at) was up-regulated in the roots (3h,27h) of 23-70 by both stresses. Similarly, Isayenkov et al. [
131]. found that some
DnaJ genes were up-regulated in response to both salt and PEG stress in barley (
Hordeum marinum ssp. marinum) roots. Another gene encoding a
DnaJ protein putative (Contig11487_at) was down-regulated both in the leaves (3h) and the roots (3h) of 23-70 by both stresses while a gene encoding another Chaperone protein
DnaJ 3 (Contig632_s_at) was down-regulated only in the leaves (3h) of 23-70.
Expression of cold-regulated (
COR) genes in plants play a critical role in cold stress tolerance and adaptation to cold stress. However, these
COR genes (
COR78/RD29A, COR47, COR15a) in Arabidopsis plant are also induced by dehydration (drought, salt stress) or ABA [
132]. In a study on tomato leaves, it was reported that the
COR gene (
LeCOR413PM2) increased at different levels in response to salt, drought and cold stress [
133]. In the same study, it was reported that overexpression of the
COR gene not only reduces cell membrane damage in response to stress, but also preserves ROS accumulation, high activity of antioxidant enzymes and content of osmotic regulators [
133]. Similarly, the expression of a gene encoding a cold-regulated protein (
COR) was reported to increase in response to drought stress [
134]. Parallel to these studies, we identified a gene encoding a cold-regulated protein (Contig4281_s_at) up-regulated in the leaves of 23-70 by both stresses and in the roots by PEG only. This gene was also up-regulated in the leaves of 20-40 by PEG.