3.8 Fld-induced genes that were repressed by water limitation
Genes grouped in clusters 11-13 (Figure 6b) were induced under control conditions in Stpfld 252 plants, accompanied by drought-related repression in the transformant (cluster 11), or in both lines (clusters 12 and 13). Cluster 11 (240 genes) included genes representing biotic stress and PR proteins, amino acid synthesis and protein and nucleotide metabolism categories (Figure 6b, Supplementary Table S8). Cluster 12 was enriched in photosynthetic genes, particularly components of PSII and its light-harvesting antenna, and cell wall proteins. Finally, cluster 13 included fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins, which were reported to participate in fiber initiation and elongation, and to contribute to the integrity of the primary cell wall matrix (Huanget al. 2013). It is worth noting that DE transcripts belonging to the cell wall functional category were also shared with clusters 2 and 8.