Abstract
Heat stress (HS) is a common stress influencing the growth and reproduction of plant species. Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is an economically important tree with strong abiotic stress resistance, but the molecular mechanism of its response to HS remains elusive. In this study, we subjected seedlings of Z. jujuba cultivar “Hqing1-HR” to HS (45°C) for 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 days, respectively, and collected the leaf samples (HR0, HR1, HR3, HR5, and HR7) accordingly. Fifteen cDNA libraries from leaves were constructed for transcriptomics assays. RNA sequencing and transcriptomics identified 1,642, 4,080, 5,160, and 2,119 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in comparisons of HR1 vs. HR0, HR3 vs. HR0, HR5 vs. HR0, and HR7 vs. HR0, respectively. Gene ontology analyses of the DEGs from these comparisons revealed enrichment in a series of biological processes involved in stress responses, photosynthesis, and metabolism, suggesting that lowering or upregulating expression of these genes might play important roles in the response to HS. This study contributed to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of jujube response to HS and will be beneficial for developing jujube cultivars with improved heat resistance.
Highlights
Abiotic stresses, such as heat, drought, salinity, and cold, are major environmental constraints to crop production and food security all over the world [1, 2]
High temperature did not damage to the macroscopic phenotype of “Hqing1-HR.”
Stomatal density and opening rate were significantly affected by high-temperature stress
Summary
Abiotic stresses, such as heat, drought, salinity, and cold, are major environmental constraints to crop production and food security all over the world [1, 2]. Jujube fruit is rich in vitamin C, phenolics, flavonoids, triterpenic acids, and polysaccharides and is widely consumed as a food or food additive [10]. It is a major dry fruit crop with a cultivation area of 2 million ha, the main source of income for 20 million farmers, and a traditional herbal medicine for more than one billion people in Asia [11]. Jujube is well adapted to various biotic and abiotic stresses, especially drought and salinity, and is considered an ideal cash crop for arid and semiarid areas where common fruits and grain/oil crops do not grow well [8]
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