Abstract
The growth and development of plants are sensitive to their surroundings. Although numerous studies have analyzed plant transcriptomic variation, few have quantified the effect of combinations of factors or identified factor-specific effects. In this study, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis on tobacco leaves derived from 10 treatment combinations of three groups of ecological factors, i.e., climate factors (CFs), soil factors (SFs), and tillage factors (TFs). We detected 4980, 2916, and 1605 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were affected by CFs, SFs, and TFs, which included 2703, 768, and 507 specific and 703 common DEGs (simultaneously regulated by CFs, SFs, and TFs), respectively. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that genes involved in abiotic stress responses and secondary metabolic pathways were overrepresented in the common and CF-specific DEGs. In addition, we noted enrichment in CF-specific DEGs related to the circadian rhythm, SF-specific DEGs involved in mineral nutrient absorption and transport, and SF- and TF-specific DEGs associated with photosynthesis. Based on these results, we propose a model that explains how plants adapt to various ecological factors at the transcriptomic level. Additionally, the identified DEGs lay the foundation for future investigations of stress resistance, circadian rhythm and photosynthesis in tobacco.
Highlights
Given that plants root at the same spot throughout their life and that they have large surface areas in contact with the environment, environmental changes have a greater impact on the growth and survival of plants than they do on animals
To compare transcriptomic variations in the leaves of tobacco plants exposed to different climate factors (CFs), soil factors (SFs), and tillage factors (TFs), ten samples cultivated in Kaiyang County (KY), Weining County (WN), and Tianzhu County (TZ) and exposed to different treatments were collected and used for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis
The first principal component accounted for 82.82% of the total variability, which in this case corresponds to the reference sequence-specific variance, and the subsequent principal components accounted for 5.33% and 3.35% of overall variance, highlighting the difference between the samples affected by CFs and SFs, respectively (Figure 1 and Table S2), as the values in the component matrix between WN, TZ, and KY were quite different, while those within the same cultivated region varied only slightly (Table 2)
Summary
Given that plants root at the same spot throughout their life and that they have large surface areas in contact with the environment, environmental changes have a greater impact on the growth and survival of plants than they do on animals. While the effect of each of the above-mentioned factors on crop production has been widely investigated, only a few studies have analyzed the influence of combinations of these factors or identified the specific impact of each factor at the transcriptomic level. Both in tobacco and Arabidopsis thaliana, the molecular and metabolic response of plants to a combination of drought and heat stress is distinct from that of plants subjected to each of these stresses applied individually, 454 transcripts in Arabidopsis were observed expressed in cells during a combination of drought and heat stress [10,11]. Our study provides novel insight into the molecular mechanisms whereby plants adapt to ecological changes and the relationship between various ecological factors at the transcriptomic level
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