The Systems Architecture of Molecular Memory in Poplar after Abiotic Stress

Throughout the temperate zones, plants face combined drought and heat spells in increasing frequency and intensity. Here, we compared periodic (intermittent, i.e., high-frequency) versus chronic (continuous, i.e., high-intensity) drought-heat stress scenarios in gray poplar ( Populus × canescens ) plants for phenotypic and transcriptomic effects during stress and after recovery. Photosynthetic productivity after stress recovery exceeded the performance of poplar trees without stress experience. We analyzed the molecular basis of this stress-related memory phenotype and investigated gene expression responses across five major tree compartments including organs and wood tissues. For each of these tissue samples, transcriptomic changes induced by the two stress scenarios were highly similar during the stress phase but strikingly divergent after recovery. Characteristic molecular response patterns were found across tissues but involved different genes in each tissue. Only a small fraction of genes showed similar stress and recovery expression profiles across all tissues, including type 2C protein phosphatases, the LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT PROTEIN4-5 genes, and homologs of the Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ) transcription factor HOMEOBOX7. Analysis of the predicted transcription factor regulatory networks for these genes suggested that a complex interplay of common and tissue-specific components contributes to the coordination of post-recovery responses to stress in woody plants.