Transcriptional and physiological changes of alfalfa in response to aluminium stress

Medicago sativa is an excellent pasture legume, but it is very sensitive to aluminium (Al) toxicity. To better understand the mechanism of M. sativa sensitivity to Al, a forward suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library for an Al-sensitive cultivar, M. sativa L. cv. Yumu No. 1 (YM1), under 5 μm Al stress over a 24 h period was constructed to analyse changes in its gene expression in response to Al stress. Sequence analysis for the SSH cDNA library generated 291 high-quantity expression sequence tags (ESTs). Of these, 229 were known as functional ESTs, 137 of which have already been reported as Al response genes, whereas the other 92 were potentially novel Al-associated genes. The up-regulation of known Al resistance-associated genes encoding the transcription factor sensitive to proton rhizotoxicity 1 (STOP1) and malate transporter MsALMT1 (Al-activated malate transporter) as well as genes for antioxidant enzymes was observed. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis validated the reliability of the SSH data and confirmed the up-regulated expression of STOP1 and MsALMT1 under 5 μm Al stress. The analysis of physiological changes indicated that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde levels were elevated rapidly under 5 μm Al stress, suggesting that severe oxidative stress occurred in the YM1 roots. The up-regulation of antioxidant-related genes might be an important protective mechanism for YM1 in response to the oxidative stress induced by 5 μm Al toxicity. Al-induced malate exudation was increased drastically during the early period after Al treatment, which might have been due to the up-regulation and function of MsALMT and STOP1. However, malate exudation from the YM1 roots declined quickly during the subsequent period, and a gradual decrease in malate content was simultaneously observed in the YM1 roots. This result is in agreement with the observation that organic acid metabolism-associated enzymes such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, citrate synthase and malate dehydrogenase were not present in the SSH library. This might be a major reason for the YM1 sensitivity to Al.