Download Analysis of the transgenerational iron deficiency stress memory in

ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSGENERATIONAL IRON DEFICIENCY STRESS
MEMORY IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA PLANTS.
Irene Murgia1*, Sonia Giacometti1, Alma Balestrazzi2, Stefania Paparella2, Cristina Pagliano3,
Piero Morandini1
* [email protected] 1Department of Biosciences, University of Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, Italy
Department of Biology and Biotechnology ‘L. Spallanzani’ , via Ferrata 1, Pavia, Italy
2
3
Applied Science and Technology Department - BioSolar Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Viale T. Michel 5,
Alessandria, Italy
We investigated the existence of the transgenerational memory of iron (Fe) deficiency stress in
Arabidopsis thaliana. Plants have been grown under Fe deficiency as well as their offspring. The
frequencies of Somatic Homologous Recombination (SHR) events, of DNA breaks as well as the
expression of the transcription elongation factor TFIIS-like gene increase when plants are grown under
Fe deficiency. However, frequencies of SHR, of DNA breaks events and the expression of TFIIS-like
gene do not increase further when plants are grown for more than one generation under same stress;
instead, they decrease back to control values within two progeny generations grown under Fe
sufficiency, regardless of the Fe-deficiency stress history of their mother plants.
Seedlings produced from plants grown under Fe deficiency evolve more oxygen than control seedlings;
however, this trait is not associated with any change in the protein profile of the photosynthetic
apparatus and is not transmitted to more than one generation. Last, we observed that plants grown for
multiple generations in alkaline soil produce seed of increased longevity; however, such trait is not fully
inherited in offspring generations unexposed to stress.
These results suggest the existence of multiple-step control of the mechanisms orchestrating the
prevention of the transgenerational transmission of the Fe-deficiency stress memory, with tightest
control on DNA integrity.
Arabidopsis thaliana, DNA strand breaks, Fe-deficiency, transgenerational memory, Somatic
Homologous Recombination.
Murgia et al (2015) Front. Plant Sci 6:745. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00745.