The genus Populus is ideally suited to investigate questions related to the interplay between an individual’s environmental history and its capacity to respond to external stimuli. In order to dissect the influence of individual history on subsequent plant responses, transcriptome level changes due to water deficit were assessed in clonal populations of Populus hybrids. Results indicate variation in the drought transcriptomes of genetically identical clones originating from different locations can be shaped by the individual history of the clone. Additionally, yearly variations in drought transcriptome patterns showed specific trends associated with a clonal population that were not related to an unknown influence at a location, nor with the biological source of cuttings. Despite these sources of transcriptome variation, a common shared response was identified across all populations. The findings hint at the influence of the environment and epigenetic factors in the dynamic regulation of transcriptome level responses in clonal
individuals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/18834 |
| Date | 15 February 2010 |
| Creators | Raj, Sherosha Joan Sharmila |
| Contributors | Campbell, Malcolm M. |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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