A1 SOBREIRO/033/2009 Abiotic stress: drought, salt and oxidative stress
A2 SOBREIRO/035/2009 Abiotic stress: heat and cold stresses
B1 SOBREIRO/014/2009 Biotic Stress: roots response to infection by Phytophthora cinnamomni
B2 SOBREIRO/034/2009 Mycorrhizal symbiosis
C1 SOBREIRO/015/2009 Transcriptomic analysis of cork quality and cambial differentiation
C2 SOBREIRO/017/2009 Cork production
C3 SOBREIRO/038/2009 Cork quality
D1 SOBREIRO/019/2009 Male and female gametophyte development
D2 SOBREIRO/029/2009 Fruit and embryo development
D3 SOBREIRO/039/2009 Bud sprouting and foliar development
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Cork production
Abstract
The cork oak (Quercus suber) forest (the “montado”) is a unique and emblematic resource for Portugal, due to its ecological and socio-economic significance, and the commercial value of cork. Portugal is the main cork producer (about 1/3 of the world production). Little is known about Q. suber germplasm diversity, stress plasticity and cork formation, though this species has recently become in Portugal, a priority target of several research projects on ecophysiology and selection.
Mediterranean evergreen oaks (holm and cork oak) are being threatened by damaging policies of land use, by climate change, biotic stresses and fire. To urgently defend the richness of these forests in Portugal and southern Europe, research on these trees should be implemented. The responses to abiotic and biotic stress, and developmental processes such as vegetative and reproductive development, acorn production, and the mechanisms of cork formation are subjects that deserve to be investigated. Research on oaks, specifically cork oak, would greatly profit from the construction of a gene chip for transcriptomic studies. Transcriptomics forms a dynamic link between genome, proteome and cellular phenotype, and thus will allow the assessing of differential gene expression along development or in response to varying environmental conditions. The production and sequencing of expressed sequence tags (ESTs), in order to construct a cork oak gene chip, will support such studies and, furthermore, will provide useful information for a cork oak genome sequencing project. A Portuguese Functional Genomics Platform Consortium has been established as a concerted effort to contribute with ESTs for the construction of the cork oak gene chip. Affymetrix was chosen to produce the chip after careful evaluation of the microarray technology available. With this concerted initiative new competences will be established at national level, while stimulating cooperation and increasing the number of teams conducting research on this highly valuable national resource. Moreover, team organization as a Consortium will guarantee an ensuing minimum utilization of the cork oak gene chip.The Consortium organized 12 projects, involving different partners, to cover as many different conditions as possible, and guarantee the expression of the maximum number of Q. suber genes to enrich the gene chip. Each project counts with researchers with specific experience for the project, who will prepare the plant material and extract total RNA. Normalized cDNA samples from the total RNA isolated will be prepared in a lab recognised for this service (Evrogen), in order to reduce losses of low abundant transcripts. The normalized cDNA will be sequenced by 454 technology (to be centralized at the BIOCANT Technological Park), with theoretical yields of 1 million bases, 500 Mbp per sample, 400 bp/sequence. Assembly of EST contigs and preliminary annotation will be performed at BIOCANT. A dedicated bioinformatics team will implement databases and data pipelines to organize and analyze the large volume of information to be generated and make it available to the community. The created public platform, CorkOakDB, will serve as an important research tool for the biotechnology communities, and will showcase this first Portuguese large-scale genomic project. The 12 projects that integrate the Consortium, identified as SOBREIRO/##/2009, are: 14 (Biotic stress: roots response to infection by Phytophthora cinnamomi); 17 (Cork production); 19 (Male and female gametophyte development); 25 (Acorn germination); 29 (Fruit and embryo development); 30 (Bioinformatics platform); 33 (Abiotic stress: drought, salt and oxidative stresses); 34 (Mycorrhizal symbiosis); 35 (Abiotic stress: heat and cold stresses); 36 (Polymorphism detection and validation); 38 (Cork quality); 39 (Bud sprouting and foliar development). Within the specific project we present here, the focus will be on the analysis of transcriptome related to cork production and development. Cork development is originated by the activity of the phellogen that forms a continuous layer that envelops the tree trunk, stems and branches. We propose sequencing of ESTs from cDNA libraries constructed from RNA isolated from annual shoots at several stages of development. These tissues are collected from Quercus cerris x Quercus suber natural hybrids belonging to eight open-pollinated families where the segregation regarding cork formation is evident: we can observe trees with cork and trees without cork in the siblings of the same generation. Cork production is closely related with cork quality that is contemplated by another project submitted by the same team and under the same consortium as this one (SOBREIRO/0038/2009). Despite the fact they are in two different propositions, they make more sense when analysed together.
Involved Groups:
Members:
Sónia Gonçalves (CEBAL)
Margarida Fortes (BioFig)
Carolina Varela (INRB)
Filomena Nóbrega (INRB)
Isabel Carrasquinho (INRB)|
Rita Costa (INRB)
Rita Teixeira (ISA)
Related Publications:
Involved Institutions:
