Identification of drought induced differentially expressed genes in barley leaves using the annealing control-primer-based GeneFishing technique

In the present study, we have used an annealing-control-primer (ACP)-based differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method to identify drought-stress-induced differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in barley leaves. Using 120 ACPs, a total of 12 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated genes were identified and sequenced. Temporal expression patterns of the 15 upor down-regulated drought-responsive DEGs were further analyzed by Northern blot analysis. Temporal expression analysis of several candidate genes revealed that within 6 h the mRNA expression was increased and maintained at a high level up to 48h after drought stress. Gradual increases of the mRNA expression of genes encoding dehydrins, receptor kinase and jasmonic acid induced protein suggests that multiple adaptive-mechanisms are involved in plants to cope in drought stress. The possible roles of the identified DEGs are discussed in the context of their putative role during drought stress.