Transcriptome of Quercus suber challenged by drought, salinity, and oxidative stresses

Abstract

The cork oak (Quercus suber) forest (the “montado”) is a unique and emblematic resource for Portugal, due to its ecological, socio-economic significance, and the commercial value of cork. Plant abiotic stresses, particularly reduced water availability and extreme temperatures, are substantial constraints to agricultural and agro-forestry production. In the particular case of cork oak, the damaging land-use policies, the climate change, and imposition of abiotic stresses related with high light intensities have been threatening the cork oak forests. The adaptation to abiotic stresses comprises a series of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes controlled by complex molecular networks. Recent advances in increasing plant tolerance were achieved after the identification of specific genes suited for plant genetic engineering. However, as abiotic stress is commonly present in the field as a combination of different stresses, the complex plant response mechanisms are far from being elucidated. This work is part of a coordinated effort to uncover the transcriptome of Q. suber and attention was paid to the identification of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) involved in responses to distinct abiotic stress challenges, namely drought, salt and oxidative stresses.