Aquaporin JcPIP2 is involved in drought responses in Jatropha curcas

Water channel proteins, aquaporins, play fundamental roles in transmembrane water movements in plants. A new full-length cDNA encoding aquaporin was isolated from the seedlings of Jatropha curcas. The gene of the plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP) from J. curcas (JcPIP2) contained an 843 bp open reading frame encoding a protein of 280 amino acids. The amino acid sequence showed 94% identity with Ricinus communis PIP. Injection of JcPIP2 complementary RNA into Xenopus oocytes increased 10-fold the osmotic water permeability of the oocytes. Immunodetection of JcPIP2 with anti-JcPIP2 antibody indicated that this protein is ubiquitously located in all tested tissues of the plant. To investigate the relationship between aquaporins and drought resistance in J. curcas, the abundance of JcPIP2 was examined in seedlings of two J. curcas populations, GaoYou CSC63 and YanBian S1, under water deficit with PEG6000. Under field conditions, those two populations, GaoYou CSC63 was resistant to water deficit, but YanBian S1 was sensitive to water deprivation. With the increasing degree of drought stress, JcPIP2 level increased in seedlings of GaoYou CSC63, whereas there was no significant change in seedlings of YanBian S1. Compared with YanBian S1, GaoYou CSC63 also showed higher root hydraulic conductivity and lower decreasing trend in the seedlings under water deficit. These results indicated that JcPIP2 probably played a role in drought resistance in J. curcas.