cDNA-AFLP analysis reveals differential gene expression in response to salt stress in a halophyte Spartina alterniflora Loisel

Salinity impedes the growth and productivity of various crop species. Genome-wide expression analysis has identified a number of salinity induced up- and/or down-regulated genes that are also common during dehydration and temperature stress in the glycophyte like Arabidopsis. To date, Spartina alterniflora L. (smooth cordgrass) has not been exploited to understand the molecular basis of its unusually high level of salt tolerance. We used cDNA-AFLP as an RNA imaging technique to identify transcripts that are strongly accumulated and are induced de novo in response to salinity stress. Among 213 isolated, we have identified 28 cDNAs that belong to different groups of genes involved in ion transport and compartmentalization, cell division, metabolism, and protein synthesis, etc. At different stages of salt stress the expression patterns of 14 such genes through RT-PCR were analyzed, and their direct and indirect relationship with salinity tolerance mechanism is discussed.