Abstract
Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is a multipurpose crop which is used for the production of textile, oils, composite materials, pharmaceuticals, etc. Soil acidity results in a loss of seed and fiber production of flax, and aluminum toxicity is a major factor that depresses plant growth and development in acid conditions. In the present work, we evaluated gene expression alterations in four flax genotypes with diverse tolerance to aluminum exposure. Using RNA-Seq approach, we revealed genes that are differentially expressed under aluminum stress in resistant (Hermes, TMP1919) and sensitive (Lira, Orshanskiy) cultivars and selectively confirmed the identified alterations using qPCR. To search for differences in response to aluminum between resistant and sensitive genotypes, we developed the scoring that allowed us to suggest the involvement of MADS-box and NAC transcription factors regulating plant growth and development and enzymes participating in cell wall modifications in aluminum tolerance in flax. Using Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, we revealed that glutathione metabolism, oxidoreductase, and transmembrane transporter activities are the most affected by the studied stress in flax. Thus, we identified genes that are involved in aluminum response in resistant and sensitive genotypes and suggested genes that contribute to flax tolerance to the aluminum stress.
Highlights
IntroductionAluminum (Al) toxicity is a major constraint for crop production in acid soils worldwide [1]
Among abiotic stresses, aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major constraint for crop production in acid soils worldwide [1]
We developed the scoring that takes into account gene expression changes within resistant and sensitive groups of genotypes, their consistency, and differences between groups
Summary
Aluminum (Al) toxicity is a major constraint for crop production in acid soils worldwide [1]. The mineral form of Al dissolves to release the soluble Al3+ form, which is capable of crossing the plant membranes and is highly toxic to plants that even micro concentrations can inhibit root growth within minutes or hours in many agricultural plant species [2,3,4,5]. The mechanisms of resistance to Al are diverse in plants and could be divided into exclusion, which decreases the amount of phytotoxic Al3+ in the cells and internal tolerance, which reduces Al toxicity in root and shoot symplast [6, 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Mechanism of Al tolerance encompasses processes that result in chelation
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