Desiccation Tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds

Desiccation tolerance (DT) allowed seed plants to conquer ecosystems with long periods of limited water availability. This adaptive features allows seeds to remain dried for very long times without losing their ability to germinate. There is little information about all the signaling components required to achieve DT and on how transcription factors (TFs) modulate global DT processes. We performed RNA-seq experiment and carbohydrates profiles of lec1, lec2, fus3 and abi3, as well as their corresponding wild types, at three stages of seed development 15, 17 and 21 DAF (day after open flower) belonging to the seed desiccation period. A complex experimental design approach and regulatory networks prediction were used to identify differentially expressed genes specifically involved in DT process. In order to identify mechanisms involved in the acquisition of DT during seed development, we designed a comparative transcriptomic analysis between the seed desiccation intolerant (DI) mutants lec1-1, abi3-5 and fus3-3, the desiccation tolerant mutant lec2-1 and the desiccation tolerant weak allele of abi3 (abi3-1) with their respective wild type controls. This analysis should allow to identify genes that are differentially expressed in the desiccation intolerant mutants respect to tolerant mutants and WT controls.