Acer rubrum (red maple) is one of the most important ornamental trees in North America. It is used in urban forestry and landscaping, as well as timber and syrup production. Drought is a major challenge that hinders the development and growth of maples and other tree species. The
objective
of the present study was to evaluate three red maple cultivars namely, October glory, Autumn red, and Red sunset for their physiological and molecular response to drought stress. Saplings of three cultivars of red maple were subjected to drought stress (up to 28 days unirrigated) in the summer of 2018 and 2019, and leaf samples were used to quantify physiological, biochemical, and expression changes under stress. Decrement of chlorophyll content significantly correlated with the soil moisture content observed in all three genotypes subjected to drought stress. Significant variation in proline concentration, Malondialdehyde levels, and increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity at various stages of the experiments showed the ability of the maple plants to respond to drought stress. RT-qPCR analyses revealed higher and variable expression of drought-responsive genes GGAT1 encoding glutamate-glyoxylate aminotransferase, and CSD2 encoding SOD, in the red maple plants under drought stress. The results from this study indicate that the red maple plants alleviate drought stress by the possible mechanism involving decreased lipid peroxidation, and enhanced production of osmolyte and antioxidants.

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In this study, we isolated cDNA with open reading frame encoding putative methyl-binding domain proteins from red pepper, which was designated as CaMBD1 (HQ171162). BLASTX search and phylogenetic analysis suggested that the CaMBD1 gene belonged to AtMBD10 group (subclass I) of MBD family. The expression profile of the CaMBD1 was studied via Q-RT-PCR and the results indicated that the CaMBD1 were differentially expressed in detected red pepper tissues. It was interesting to note that CaMBD1 was highly expressed in dry seeds and endosperms. Moreover, the differential expression pattern of CaMBD1 was observed in leaves and roots under water-stress. Also a GFP-CaMDB1 fusion construct introduced into the onion epidermal cells confirmed localization of CaMBD1 into the nuclei. To investigate the biological significance of CaMBD1 proteins, we transformed Arabidopsis using CaMBD1 gene. The resulting 35S::CaMBD1 plants showed a variety of phenotypic effects including aerial rosettes, serrated leaves, abnormal position of flowers, fertility problems and late flowering. Arabidopsis lines involved in chromatin remodeling show similar phenotypes. Our results suggest an important role of CaMBD1 biological in plant growth and development.

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