cDNA-AFLP analysis reveals heat shock proteins play important roles in mediating cold, heat, and drought tolerance in Ammopiptanthus mongolicus.

Ammopiptanthus mongolicus (Maxim.ex kom.) Cheng F. is the only evergreen broadleaf shrub endemic to the desert of central Asian and it can survive at drought, salt, and alkali stress. It is believed that A. mongolicus is an important germplasm containing abiotic-tolerance genes. In order to identify drought-, cold-, and heat-responsive genes and to gain a better understanding of stress responses in A. mongolicus, genome-wide investigation of drought-, cold-, and heat-responsive genes was performed in A. mongolicus using cDNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism. Selective amplification with 240 primer combinations generated 5,000 differentially expressed transcript derived fragments (TDFs). Of these, 201 TDFs with differential expression patterns were excised from gels, reamplified by PCR, and sequenced. The gene expression patterns of 11 regulated genes were further investigated by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis. Sequencing and similarity analysis revealed that TDFs present homologies chiefly with proteins involved in various abiotic and biotic stress and developmental responses. The information presented in this study reveals that heat shock proteins play an active role in mediating drought, cold, and heat tolerance in A. mongolicus.