Osmotic stress at the barley root affects expression of circadian clock genes in the shoot

The circadian clock is an important timing system that controls physiological responses to abiotic stresses in plants. However, there is little information on the effects of the clock on stress adaptation in important crops, like barley. In addition, we do not know how osmotic stress perceived at the roots affect the shoot circadian clock. Barley genotypes, carrying natural variation at the photoperiod response and clock genes Ppd-H1 and HvELF3, were grown under control and osmotic stress conditions to record changes in the diurnal expression of clock and stress-response genes and in physiological traits. Variation at HvELF3 affected the expression phase and shape of clock and stress-response genes, while variation at Ppd-H1 only affected the expression levels of stress genes. Osmotic stress up-regulated expression of clock and stress-response genes and advanced their expression peaks. Clock genes controlled the expression of stress-response genes, but had minor effects on gas exchange and leaf transpiration. This study demonstrated that osmotic stress at the barley root altered clock gene expression in the shoot and acted as a spatial input signal into the clock. Unlike in Arabidopsis, barley primary assimilation was less controlled by the clock and more responsive to environmental perturbations, such as osmotic stress. The objective of the study was 1. to characterize the effects of the circadian clock on physiological performance under osmotic stress in the important crop barley and 2. to study the plasticity of the clock in response to osmotic stress. We demonstrate that osmotic stress at the barley root altered clock gene expression in the shoot and thus acted as a spatial input signal into the clock. Clock genes controlled the expression of stress-response genes, but had minor effects on physiological traits, such as gas exchange. Unlike in Arabidopsis, barley primary assimilation was thus less controlled by the clock and more responsive to environmental perturbations, such as osmotic stress.