Gene expression study after 3 days of salt exposure in a Solanum tuberosum cultivar called Desirée. Solanum tuberosum

The molecular response to salt exposure was studied in the leaves of an S. tuberosum clone using cDNA microarray. Differentially expressed genes were classified according to their known or predicted function and their expression ratio as compared to the control. The major changes upon a 150 mM NaCl exposure in potato leaves occurred in the photosystem apparatus and Calvin cycle: many transcripts coding for proteins belonging to photosystems I and II and chlorophyll synthesis were repressed, whereas cell rescue and transcription factor-related genes were mostly up-regulated. A strong down-regulation of several functional categories including primary metabolism, detoxication apparatus and signal transduction was also observed. Overall design: Gene expression has been followed three days after salinity treatment (150 mM NaCl). For each condition, 4 independent biological replicates were sampled. Dye-swaps were performed.