Background Over the life cycle of perennial trees, the dormant state enables the avoidance of abiotic stress conditions. The growth cycle can be partitioned into induction, maintenance and release and is controlled by complex interactions between many endogenous and environmental factors. While phytohormones have long been linked with dormancy, there is increasing evidence of regulation by DAM and CBF genes. To reveal whether the expression kinetics of CBFs and their target PtDAM1 is related to growth cessation and endodormancy induction in Populus, two hybrid poplar cultivars were studied.
Results Growth cessation, dormancy status and expression of six PtCBFs and PtDAM1 were analyzed. The ‘Okanese’ hybrid cultivar ceased growth rapidly, was able to reach endodormancy, and exhibited a significant increase of several PtCBF transcripts in the buds on the 10th day. The ‘Walker’ cultivar had delayed growth cessation, was unable to enter endodormancy, and showed much lower CBF expression in buds. Expression of PtDAM1 peaked on the 10th day only in the buds of ‘Okanese’. Besides, in the leaves of the two cultivars, PtDAM1 was not expressed while the CBFs expression pattern was reversed. Leaf phytohormones in both cultivars followed similar profiles during growth cessation but differentiated based on cytokinins which were largely reduced, while the Ox-IAA and iP7G increased in ‘Okanese’ compared to ‘Walker’. Surprisingly, ABA concentration was reduced in leaves of both cultivars. However, the metabolic deactivation product of ABA, phaseic acid, exhibited an early peak on the first day in ‘Okanese’.
Conclusions Our results indicate that PtCBFs and PtDAM1 have differential kinetics and spatial localization which may be related to early growth cessation and endodormancy induction under the regime of low night temperature and short photoperiod in poplar. Unlike buds, PtCBFs and PtDAM1 expression levels in leaves were not associated with early growth cessation and dormancy induction under these conditions. Our study provides new evidence that the degradation of auxin and cytokinins in leaves may be an important regulatory point in a CBF-DAM induced endodormancy. Further investigation of other PtDAMs in bud tissue and a study of both growth-inhibiting and the degradation of growth-promoting phytohormones is warranted.

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On 08 Jan, 2021
On 05 Jan, 2021
On 20 Dec, 2020
Received 19 Dec, 2020
Received 02 Dec, 2020
On 29 Nov, 2020
On 29 Nov, 2020
Invitations sent on 26 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
Posted 03 Sep, 2020
On 28 Oct, 2020
Received 27 Oct, 2020
On 10 Oct, 2020
Received 24 Sep, 2020
Invitations sent on 03 Sep, 2020
On 03 Sep, 2020
On 20 Aug, 2020
On 19 Aug, 2020
On 19 Aug, 2020
On 18 Aug, 2020
On 08 Jan, 2021
On 05 Jan, 2021
On 20 Dec, 2020
Received 19 Dec, 2020
Received 02 Dec, 2020
On 29 Nov, 2020
On 29 Nov, 2020
Invitations sent on 26 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
On 25 Nov, 2020
Posted 03 Sep, 2020
On 28 Oct, 2020
Received 27 Oct, 2020
On 10 Oct, 2020
Received 24 Sep, 2020
Invitations sent on 03 Sep, 2020
On 03 Sep, 2020
On 20 Aug, 2020
On 19 Aug, 2020
On 19 Aug, 2020
On 18 Aug, 2020
Background Over the life cycle of perennial trees, the dormant state enables the avoidance of abiotic stress conditions. The growth cycle can be partitioned into induction, maintenance and release and is controlled by complex interactions between many endogenous and environmental factors. While phytohormones have long been linked with dormancy, there is increasing evidence of regulation by DAM and CBF genes. To reveal whether the expression kinetics of CBFs and their target PtDAM1 is related to growth cessation and endodormancy induction in Populus, two hybrid poplar cultivars were studied.
Results Growth cessation, dormancy status and expression of six PtCBFs and PtDAM1 were analyzed. The ‘Okanese’ hybrid cultivar ceased growth rapidly, was able to reach endodormancy, and exhibited a significant increase of several PtCBF transcripts in the buds on the 10th day. The ‘Walker’ cultivar had delayed growth cessation, was unable to enter endodormancy, and showed much lower CBF expression in buds. Expression of PtDAM1 peaked on the 10th day only in the buds of ‘Okanese’. Besides, in the leaves of the two cultivars, PtDAM1 was not expressed while the CBFs expression pattern was reversed. Leaf phytohormones in both cultivars followed similar profiles during growth cessation but differentiated based on cytokinins which were largely reduced, while the Ox-IAA and iP7G increased in ‘Okanese’ compared to ‘Walker’. Surprisingly, ABA concentration was reduced in leaves of both cultivars. However, the metabolic deactivation product of ABA, phaseic acid, exhibited an early peak on the first day in ‘Okanese’.
Conclusions Our results indicate that PtCBFs and PtDAM1 have differential kinetics and spatial localization which may be related to early growth cessation and endodormancy induction under the regime of low night temperature and short photoperiod in poplar. Unlike buds, PtCBFs and PtDAM1 expression levels in leaves were not associated with early growth cessation and dormancy induction under these conditions. Our study provides new evidence that the degradation of auxin and cytokinins in leaves may be an important regulatory point in a CBF-DAM induced endodormancy. Further investigation of other PtDAMs in bud tissue and a study of both growth-inhibiting and the degradation of growth-promoting phytohormones is warranted.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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