Genome wide transcriptional profiling of acclimation to photoperiod in high-latitude accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Three Arabidopsis thaliana accessions originating from the northernmost boundary of the species distribution in Norway (59-68°N) were used to study global wide transcriptional responses to 16 and 24 h photoperiods during flower initiation. Significant analysis of microarrays (SAM), analyses of statistically overrepresented gene ontologies (GOstat) and gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) were used to identify candidate genes and genetic pathways underlying phenotypic adaptations of accessions to different photoperiods. Statistical analyses identified 732 and 258 differentially expressed genes between accessions in 16 and 24 h photoperiod, respectively. Among significantly expressed genes, ethylene mediated signaling pathway was significantly overrepresented in 16 h photoperiod, while genes involved in response to auxin stimulus were found to be significantly overrepresented in 24 h photoperiod. Several gene sets were found to be differentially expressed among accessions, e.g. cold acclimation, dehydration response, phytochrome signaling, vernalization response and circadian clock regulated flowering time genes. These results revealed several candidate genes and pathways likely involved in transcriptional control of photoperiodic response. In particular, ethylene and auxin signaling pathway may represent candidate genes contributing to local adaptation of high-latitude accessions of A. thaliana.