The heat shock protein (HSP) plays an essential role in adaptation mechanisms under heat stress conditions. This work aimed to explore the response of HSP across seven diverse bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. The utilized dual approach combined biochemical assessment via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) with molecular analysis through a quantitative RT-PCR. Seedlings of seven wheat commercial cultivars sustained exposure to thermal shock conditions of 45 °C for 4 h compared with a control temperature of 25 °C to elicit HSP production in significant quantities. Among the tested cultivars, Sids.1, Misr.2, and Giza.168 exhibited the highest levels of heat shock proteins, with distinct bands observed at 83, 71, 37, 36, and 31 kDa. Conversely, Gemmeiza.11 displayed the least heat shock proteins, characterized by a single band at 32 kDa. Furthermore, the thermal shock treatment affected the quantity and diversity of proteins produced by Gemmeiza.10 and Gemmeiza.7 by reducing observed bands under treated conditions. Real-time qPCR analysis proceeded to evaluate the expression of HSP genes utilizing RNA extracts from Sids.1 and Gemmeiza.10. The Sids.1 exhibited robust gene expression while Gemmeiza.10 displayed a low gene expression. The detected expression of HSP22 suggests a plausible involvement in conferring heat tolerance in bread wheat.
read wheat (T. aestivum L.), differential heat shock response, heat shock proteins, gene expression analysis, environmental stress adaptation
Bread wheat (T. aestivum L.) cultivar Sids.1 exhibited resilience to heat stress, contrasting with the other genotype Gemmeiza.10, which showed higher susceptibility. Tolerant genotypes to heat stress displayed increased HSP gene expression compared with sensitive varieties.