@article{article_1128189, title={Determination of Expression Levels of Fatty Acid Desaturase-2 Genes in Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Varieties Exposed to Copper}, journal={Erciyes Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Fen Bilimleri Dergisi}, volume={38}, pages={401–415}, year={2022}, author={Bölükbaşı, Ekrem and Aras, Sumer}, keywords={Aspir, Bakır, FAD2 Gen, Real Time PCR}, abstract={Heavy metal pollution is an important environmental problem all over the world. It is known that high concentrations of heavy metals in soils and waters cause genotoxicity in living things and damage most of the functional biomolecules. For instance, while low concentration of copper, is essential for all organisms, high concentration of copper is toxic element that negatively affect every living organism from plants to humans. Safflower is an agricultural plant with high economic value grown for its seed oil. Safflower oil is source of Omega-9 and Omega-6 used in many food and industrial applications. In this study, it investigated the expression levels of CtFAD2 (FAD2-6, FAD2-7, FAD2-11) genes responsible for conversion of Omega-9 to Omega-6 at root, cotyledon and leaf tissues of four different safflower varieties subjected to copper heavy metals stress by qRT-PCR. RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis and qRT-PCR analysis were performed in root, cotyledon and leaf tissues exposed to copper stress for 24 hours after cultivation for 21 days. The increases were observed at concentrations of 40 and 80 mg L-1. It was determined that the expression levels of FAD2 genes decreased at increasing copper concentrations and increased again after 160 and 320 mg L-1. The decrease firstly in the expression of FAD2 genes at increasing copper concentrations and their re-increase after 160 and 320 mg L-1, which can be considered as critical points, are accepted as an indication that the defense mechanism against stress is activated and FAD2 genes play a role in the defense against stress. In conclusion, it has been determined that FAD2 genes, which are responsible for fatty acid desaturation in safflower cultivars exposed to copper stress, are also associated with the stress mechanism and play a role in defense.}, number={2}, publisher={Erciyes Üniversitesi}, organization={Ankara University Scientific Research Unit}