Abstract
BackgroundWucai (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. rosularis Tsen) is a cold-tolerant plant that is vulnerable to high temperature. This study explored the response mechanism of wucai to low temperature. In this study, wucai seedlings were treated with different temperatures, including low temperature (LT), high temperature (HT), and a control.ResultsAccording to transcriptomics analysis, the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in HT and LT was 10,702 and 7267, respectively, compared with the control. The key genes associated with the physiological response of wucai to the treatments were analyzed. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology annotations indicated the importance of the photosynthesis and photosynthetic-antenna protein pathways. We found that a high-temperature environment greatly inhibited the expression of important genes in the photosynthetic pathway (BrLhc superfamily members, PsaD, PsaE, PsaD, PsaD, PsbO, PsbP, PsbQ, PsbR, PsbS, PsbW, PsbY, Psb27, and Psb28), whereas low temperature resulted in the expression of certain key genes (BrLhc superfamily members, Psa F, Psa H, Psb S, Psb H, Psb 28). In addition, the wucai seedlings exhibited better photosynthetic performance under low-temperature conditions than high-temperature conditions.ConclusionsBased on the above results, we speculate that upon exposure to low temperature, the plants developed higher cold tolerance by upregulating the expression of genes related to photosynthesis. Conversely, high-temperature stress inhibited the expression of pivotal genes and weakened the self-regulating ability of the plants.
Highlights
Wucai (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. rosularis Tsen) is a cold-tolerant plant that is vulnerable to high temperature
The plant height was significantly higher than that before treatment, while after low temperature treatment, the plant height was significantly lower than that before treatment, but there was no significant change in the control group at room temperature for 3 days
Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of low temperature (LT) and high temperature (HT) GO enrichment analysis was used to further explore the functions of DEGs at different temperatures (Additional file: Figure S3) The results revealed the distribution of the 3605 DEGs in the LT-vs-Cont and 7085 DEGs in the HT-vs-Cont in the three ontology types
Summary
Wucai (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis var. rosularis Tsen) is a cold-tolerant plant that is vulnerable to high temperature. Cold stress can cause damage to a plant by reducing photosynthetic rates, which arises from the direct inhibition of metabolic enzymes by cold stress and the reprogramming of gene expression [7, 8] Both cold and heat stress can change the fluidity of cellular phospholipid membranes [9]. This type of change can be sensed by integral membrane proteins, allowing for stress transcription factors to activate stress-responsive genes [10]. These pathways lead to adjustments in plant metabolism and development that are aimed at reaching homeostasis under stressful conditions [11, 12]
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