Abstract
Japanese lawngrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) is an important warm-season turfgrass that is able to survive in a range of soils, from infertile sands to clays, and to grow well under saline conditions. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in its resistance to salt stress. Here, we used high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to investigate the changes in gene expression of Zoysia grass at high NaCl concentrations. We first constructed two sequencing libraries, including control and NaCl-treated samples, and sequenced them using the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 platform. Approximately 157.20 million paired-end reads with a total length of 68.68 Mb were obtained. Subsequently, 32,849 unigenes with an N50 length of 1781 bp were assembled using Trinity. Furthermore, three public databases, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Swiss-prot, and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs), were used for gene function analysis and enrichment. The annotated genes included 57 Gene Ontology (GO) terms, 120 KEGG pathways, and 24 COGs. Compared with the control, 1455 genes were significantly different (false discovery rate ≤0.01, |log2Ratio |≥1) in the NaCl-treated samples. These genes were enriched in 10 KEGG pathways and 73 GO terms, and subjected to 25 COG categories. Using high-throughput next-generation sequencing, we built a database as a global transcript resource for Z. japonica Steud. roots. The results of this study will advance our understanding of the early salt response in Japanese lawngrass roots.
Highlights
Plant growth, development, and production depend largely on soil; more than 800 million hectares of land worldwide are subjected to salt stress
Physiological Responses in the Roots of Salt-treated Plants Most previous studies focused on long-term adaptations to salt stress in grasses (Wang and Jiang, 2007; Bian and Jiang, 2009; Du et al, 2009; Hu et al, 2012); few have investigated the initiation of the stress response that plays an important role in this type of stress signaling
Changes in the environment of plants increase the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Hong et al, 2009), with the production of ROS being an early response to abiotic stress (Zhu, 2002; Mittler et al, 2004)
Summary
Development, and production depend largely on soil; more than 800 million hectares of land worldwide are subjected to salt stress. The level of sensitivity of the plant salt stress response plays a crucial role in determining resistance to high salt stress (Tracy et al, 2008; Schmidt et al, 2013; Wei et al, 2013). Improving the abiotic stress resistance of plants is an effective method for overcoming water shortages and for the cultivation of large areas of saline land. A focus on early detection would assist the determination of plant stress responses (Schmidt et al, 2013). Model plants such as rice have evolved a regulatory network of early responses to chilling stress (Yun et al, 2010). Further study of various halophytes may provide new information regarding the ability of plants to resist salt damage
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