changes in the expression pattern of two aquaporin genes in barley shoots under salinity stress

Objective: barley (hordeum vulgare l.) is an important crop with wide adaptation and tolerance to abiotic stresses. salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting crop growth and production. we assessed the changes in the expression pattern of hvtip2;3 and hvtip4;1 genes from the aquaporin family in the shoot of salt-tolerant cultivar sahara3771, an advanced breeding line (a-line), and the salt-sensitive cultivar clipper.methods: a split-plot experiment, based on a randomized complete block design with three replications, was conducted in a hydroponic culture system under greenhouse conditions. the studied genotypes were cultured under normal and 100 and 200 mm nacl treatments. twenty-four hours, three days, and three weeks after salinity treatment, leaf samples were harvested for rna extraction. real-time pcr was conducted using gene-specific primers, and δδct was used in the analysis of variance. results: the results revealed significant effects of genotypes and sampling times on the expression pattern of the hvtip4;1 gene. salinity × genotype, salinity × sampling time, genotype × sampling time, and salinity × genotype × sampling time interactions were also significant (p < 0.01). the expression pattern of the two studied genes was not similar in the tolerant genotypes, implying different tolerance mechanisms in these genotypes.conclusion: the studied barley genotypes showed different salt-tolerance mechanisms. these findings provide the foundation for future work to dissect the role of hvtip2;3 and hvpip1;4 genes, as well as other aquaporins containing tonoplast intrinsic protein (hvtip) coding genes, in conferring adaptation to various stresses.