Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Temporal and Spatial Changes in Physiological Process and Gene Expression in Common Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) Grown under Drought Stress

Hou Hou,Yin Yin,Song Song,Liu Liu,Zhang Zhang,Fang Fang,Lu Lu,Wei Wei,Wang Wang

doi:10.3390/agronomy9100569

Hou Hou, Yin Yin + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9100569

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Journal: Agronomy (Basel, Switzerland)	Publication Date: Sep 20, 2019
Citations: 23	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Yangtze University

Abstract

Common buckwheat is a traditional alternative crop that originated from the northwest of China and is widely cultivated worldwide. However, common buckwheat is highly sensitive to drought stress, especially at the seedling stage, and the molecular mechanisms underlying the response to drought stress still remain elusive. In this study, we analyzed the stress phenotypes of buckwheat seedlings under drought condition. The results showed the wrinkled cotyledon due to the decrease of relative water content (RWC) in response to the increased activity of antioxidant enzymes. Transcriptomic analysis was further performed to analyze the regulation patterns of stress-responding genes in common buckwheat cotyledons and roots under drought stress conditions. Characterizations of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed differential regulation of genes involved in the photosynthesis and oxidoreductase activity in cotyledon, and that they were highly related to the post-transcriptional modification and metabolic process in root. There were 180 drought-inducible transcription factors identified in both cotyledons and roots of the common buckwheat. Our analysis not only identified the drought responsive DEGs and indicated their possible roles in stress adaption, but also primarily studied the molecular mechanisms regulating the drought stress response in common buckwheat.

Highlights

Among the forms of environmental stress, drought stress has been considered as one of the major constraints in plant growth, survival, and production [1,2]
The activities of RubisCO were significantly decreased at 3 days and greatly declined at 5 days under drought treatment (Figure 4e). These results indicate that photosynthesis in the cotyledons of the common buckwheat seedlings decreased under drought stress conditions
Expression was most high that deficit, and the genes’ expression was most high at cotyledons and roots. These results indicate at cotyledons and roots. These results indicate that the expression of transcriptional factors (TFs) was greatly affected by water the expression of TFs was greatly affected by water deficit in the cotyledons and roots, and had deficit in the cotyledons and roots, and had different patterns between cotyledon and root tissues

Summary

Introduction

Among the forms of environmental stress, drought stress has been considered as one of the major constraints in plant growth, survival, and production [1,2]. ROS generate the oxidation of photosynthetic pigments, initiate lipid peroxidation, and degrade proteins in plants, and thereby cause damage to cell structures and metabolism, those associated with photosynthesis [17,18]. In terms of the enzymatic scavenging, a series of antioxidative enzymes, including peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), have been reported to play a vital role in reducing the damage effects (i.e., water deficiency) caused by drought stress [21]. There is evidence that keeping a high antioxidative enzyme activity level to reduce the damaging effects caused by water deficit stress may be associated with the osmotic stress tolerance of plants [22], which is found to be positively related to plant drought tolerance [23]

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Conclusion