Ethanol Treatment Enhances Drought Stress Tolerance in Plants

Gene expression profiles of ethanol treated drought-stressed roots and shoots was performed at 3, 24, and 72 h after ethanol treatment and 1, 3, and 5 days after drought stress were analyzed using the custom microarray Agilent-034592. Seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana (Col-0 ecotype) were grown on MS medium at 22°C under 16-h-light/8-h-dark for 9 days. Plantlets were then transferred to ceramics granular soil (size 2.5L, Sakatanotane, Japan) and grown for 8 days at 22°C. The drought treatment was then commenced by removing excess water from the trays and ceasing any subsequent watering. Roots and shoots were harvested separately at 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 days after the onset of drought treatment.