Abstract
Pearl millet (<em>Pennisetum glaucum</em>), a vital cereal crop renowned for its drought tolerance, is a cornerstone for smallholder farmers in arid and semi-arid regions, ranking as the fifth most significant cereal globally. Despite its resilience, the molecular mechanisms underlying its tolerance to heat stress remained elusive. To address this knowledge gap, we subjected ten-day-old pearl millet seedlings to an unprecedented temperature of 50°C for 60 seconds. Subsequent next-generation RNA sequencing aimed to unravel differential gene expression in heat-stressed seedlings compared to control conditions. Our analysis revealed a remarkable 29.8% differential expression in the genome sequence in response to heat stress. Heat-stressed pearl millet leaves exhibited differential expression in 11,483 genes, with fold changes ranging from 2 to 18.6 compared to the control group. Of these, 3,612 genes displayed upregulation, while 7,871 genes exhibited downregulation. These genes play roles in diverse biological processes involving crucial enzymes such as aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, ligases, methyltransferases, oxidoreductases, and DNA-directed RNA polymerases. The Photosystem II Type I Chlorophyll-a/b-binding protein and heat shock proteins displayed the most significant fold changes in heat-stressed leaves. Moreover, various transcription factor families, including bHLH, ERF, NAC, WRKY, MYB-related, C2H2, bZIP, MYB, FAR1, and B3, vital in controlling pearl millet's response to heat stress, were linked to over 100 differentially expressed genes. The dataset generated through this research, shedding light on the molecular processes enabling pearl millet to withstand heat, holds immense value given the crop's role in food security and resilience to extreme weather. In the context of climate change and global warming, this knowledge lays the foundation for further studies on metabolic engineering and selecting crops resilient to high temperatures. Our transcriptomics approach provides comprehensive gene expression profiles of heat-stressed plants. It elucidates pearl millet's response to heat stress, offering a crucial resource for future investigations into crop adaptation strategies.
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