Abstract Natural seasonal variation and the effects of cold treatment and nitrogen fertilization on protein expression with special emphasis on dehydrin proteins, were studied using different aged Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Several different dehydrins were found and their expression depended on the tissue type, tree age or specific treatment. Their concentrations fluctuated seasonally and in response to nitrogen fertilization, but no effects of low temperature on the dehydrins of seedlings were observed. A 60-kDa dehydrin was associated with cold acclimation in the bud and bark tissues of mature trees and in the needles of seedlings. In the needles of mature trees, this dehydrin was associated with springtime desiccation, which was detected as a significant decrease in the osmotic potential of needles. The quantity and quality of soluble proteins altered seasonally in Scots pine tissues, but low temperature treatment alone did not have any effect on the proteins. Soluble protein concentration increased during autumn and decreased in spring in buds and bark, but not in the needles of mature trees. In needles of seedlings, however, protein concentrations altered seasonally. Several proteins, of varying molecular weights, were more abundant in winter in all the tissues studied and some increased in concentration in the nitrogen-fertilized seedlings. The role of these proteins as a storage reserve in Scots pine is discussed. The osmotic potential of needles showed seasonal fluctuation, being high in the summer and low during the winter. Low temperature treatment decreased the osmotic and water potential of needles and increased the concentrations of soluble sugars in seedlings. Based on carbohydrate analyses, the metabolism of seedlings acclimated to low temperature in less than ten days. Nitrogen fertilization increased the content of total nitrogen and the soluble protein concentrations in the needles of seedlings and the growth both in the mature trees and seedlings. Although the frost resistance showed no response to nitrogen-fertilization, the soluble proteins and dehydrins were affected in a manner that suggested an earlier growth resumption of spring in the fertilized trees.

Drought is the major environmental factor affecting crop growth, yield and quality. Two experiments were conducted to understand rice genotypic variability responses to drought stress conditions during seed germination and early-seedling growth. In Experiment I, the influence of wide range of osmotic stress on seed germination properties of 15 rice cultivars were studied using polyethylene glycol media. In Experiment II, seedling morph-physiological parameters including root traits were quantified by subjecting rice seedlings to three different soil moisture treatments, 100, 66 and 33% field capacity. Rice cultivars differed in their response to drought at both the stages. Cultivars were classified into different drought tolerant groups based cumulative drought response indices. Based on seed- and early-season growth and developmental responses, RU1104122, Rex, CL111 and RU1304154 were identified as drought tolerant among the rice cultivars tested. The identified tolerant cultivars will be a source for rice breeders to develop new drought tolerant cultivars.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo estudar as respostas fisiolÃgicas e bioquÃmicas de plÃntulas de cajueiro anÃo-precoce (Anacardium occidentale L.) à salinidade em duas condiÃÃes ambientais de cultivo. Para isso, as plÃntulas foram cultivadas em vasos de polietileno contendo somente soluÃÃo nutritiva (tratamento controle) ou soluÃÃo nutritiva com NaCl a 50, 100, 150 e 200 mM (tratamentos salinos), sendo mantidas em duas condiÃÃes ambientais: casa de vegetaÃÃo e sala de germinaÃÃo. Os efeitos do estresse salino foram avaliados atravÃs de medidas de crescimento, trocas gasosas, teores de clorofila, potencial osmÃtico foliar e teores de solutos orgÃnicos (prolina, N-aminossolÃveis e carboidratos solÃveis) e inorgÃnicos (Na+, Cl- e K+) nas folhas e raÃzes. TambÃm foram estudadas as alteraÃÃes na expressÃo gÃnica com a salinidade, o que foi feito atravÃs da comparaÃÃo dos padrÃes eletroforÃticos 2D das proteÃnas de folhas e raÃzes. A salinidade reduziu o crescimento das plÃntulas em ambas as condiÃÃes ambientais de cultivo, sendo que nas plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo, a inibiÃÃo do crescimento foi mais acentuada do que naquelas da sala de germinaÃÃo. Este fato correlacionou-se com as maiores reduÃÃes na fotossÃntese lÃquida, na transpiraÃÃo e na condutÃncia estomÃtica das plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo em relaÃÃo Ãs da sala de germinaÃÃo. Nas duas condiÃÃes de cultivo, os efeitos inibitÃrios do NaCl foram mais conspÃcuos nas raÃzes do que na parte aÃrea. A salinidade nÃo causou grandes mudanÃas nas concentraÃÃes internas de CO2 das plÃntulas de cajueiro, sugerindo a participaÃÃo de fatores nÃo-estomÃticos na inibiÃÃo das taxas fotossintÃticas. Os teores foliares de clorofila a, b e total foram influenciados pela salinidade e pelas condiÃÃes de cultivo das plÃntulas, sendo que as da sala de germinaÃÃo apresentaram os maiores conteÃdos e as menores reduÃÃes desses pigmentos devido à salinidade. As leituras feitas com o medidor portÃtil de clorofila, SPAD-502, correlacionaram-se positivamente com os teores foliares de clorofila, expressos em g.cm-2, tanto nas plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo quanto nas da sala de germinaÃÃo. As maiores reduÃÃes no potencial osmÃtico e os maiores acÃmulos de Na+ e Cl- nas folhas pela salinidade, em relaÃÃo ao controle, foram observados nas plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo. Por outro lado, os teores de K+ nesse ÃrgÃo nÃo diferiram muito entre as duas condiÃÃes de cultivo empregadas. As raÃzes acumularam grandes quantidades de Na+ e Cl- em seus tecidos, as quais foram acompanhadas de grandes decrÃscimos nos teores de K+, em ambas as condiÃÃes de cultivo. Com o aumento da salinidade, os teores de prolina foram aumentados, principalmente nas folhas, sendo os maiores incrementos observados nas plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo. Os teores de carboidratos solÃveis foram aumentados e reduzidos, devido à salinidade, somente nas folhas das plÃntulas da sala de germinaÃÃo e nas raÃzes das plÃntulas da casa de vegetaÃÃo, respectivamente. Nas duas condiÃÃes de cultivo, a salinidade aumentou os teores de N-aminossolÃveis nas folhas e nas raÃzes das plÃntulas de cajueiro. O padrÃo de expressÃo gÃnica das folhas e das raÃzes foi alterado pelo estresse salino em ambas as condiÃÃes ambientais. A salinidade causou aumentos e diminuiÃÃes nas taxas de expressÃo de vÃrias proteÃnas, sendo que algumas desapareceram completamente e outras foram aparentemente sintetizadas de novo nas plÃntulas estressadas. As proteÃnas diferencialmente reguladas pelo estresse salino foram bastante diferentes nas duas condiÃÃes ambientais empregadas. Faz-se necessÃrio o seqÃenciamento e a identificaÃÃo dessas proteÃnas para que se possa especular sobre seus possÃveis papÃis no processo de aclimataÃÃo das plÃntulas de cajueiro Ãs condiÃÃes de salinidade. / Early-dwarf cashew seedlings (Anacardium occidentale L.) were used in order to investigate the physiological and biochemical changes induced by salt stress in two environmental conditions. The seedlings were cultivated in plastics pots containing only nutrient solution (control treatment) or nutrient solution with NaCl at 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM (saline treatment). They were kept in two environmental conditions: greenhouse and growth room. The effects of salinity on the growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll content, osmotic potential and organic (proline, soluble amino-N, soluble carbohydrates) and inorganic (Na+, Cl-, K+) solute contents from both leaves and roots were studied. Salt stress induced changes in gene expression were studied both in leaves and roots comparing 2D electrophoretic pattern. Salinity inhibited the growth of seedlings in both environmental conditions, being the reduction in seedlings growth in the greenhouse more conspicuous than those cultivated in the growth room. This fact was correlated with highest reductions in net photosynthetic rate, in transpiration and stomatal conductance of seedlings grown in the greenhouse when compared with those of growth room. In both cultivation conditions, the root growth was affected by NaCl than shoot growth. The salinity stress not caused great changes in CO2 internal concentration, suggesting that the inhibition of photosynthesis also may be attributed to non-stomatal factors. Leaf chlorophyll a, b and total contents were influenced by salinity and environmental conditions, being observed the highest contents and the lowest reductions of these pigments due to salinity in seedlings under growth room conditions. The readings of portable chlorophyll meter, SPAD-502, were positively correlated to leaf chlorophyll contents, expressed in g.cm-2, both in greenhouse and growth room conditions. In the salt stress conditions, the higher reductions of osmotic potential and higher Na+ and Cl- accumulations in leaves were observed in seedlings grown in the greenhouse. On the other hand, leaves K+ contents did not differ much among the cultivation conditions used. The roots accumulated greater amounts of Na+ and Cl- in their tissues, which were accompanied of great decreases in the K+ contents in both cultivation conditions. Proline content increased with the increase in salt stress especially in leaves, being the greater increases observed in seedlings cultivated in the greenhouse. The soluble carbohydrates contents were increased and decreased, due to salinity, only in leaves of seedlings of growth room and roots of those grown in the greenhouse, respectively. In both cultivation conditions, salinity increased the leaf and root soluble amino-N contents of cashew seedlings. The gene expression patterns both leaves and roots were altered by salt stress, in both environmental conditions. Salinity induced increases and decreases in expression of various proteins, being that some proteins disappeared completely and other were apparently synthesized de novo in the seedlings stressed. The proteins differentially regulated by salt stress were enough different among the environmental conditions used. Future studies should be focused on sequencing and identification of proteins whose rate of synthesis varied as a result of salinity, in order to better characterize their possible roles in the process of acclimation of cashew seedlings to salinity conditions