scholarly journals Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Waterlogging-Sensitive and Tolerant Zombi Pea (Vigna Vexillata) Reveals Energy Conservation and Root Plasticity Controlling Waterlogging Tolerance

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Butsayawarapat ◽  
Juntawong ◽  
Khamsuk ◽  
Somta

Vigna vexillata (zombi pea) is an underutilized legume crop considered to be a potential gene source in breeding for abiotic stress tolerance. This study focuses on the molecular characterization of mechanisms controlling waterlogging tolerance using two zombi pea varieties with contrasting waterlogging tolerance. Morphological examination revealed that in contrast to the sensitive variety, the tolerant variety was able to grow, maintain chlorophyll, form lateral roots, and develop aerenchyma in hypocotyl and taproots under waterlogging. To find the mechanism controlling waterlogging tolerance in zombi pea, comparative transcriptome analysis was performed using roots subjected to short-term waterlogging. Functional analysis indicated that glycolysis and fermentative genes were strongly upregulated in the sensitive variety, but not in the tolerant one. In contrast, the genes involved in auxin-regulated lateral root initiation and formation were expressed only in the tolerant variety. In addition, cell wall modification, aquaporin, and peroxidase genes were highly induced in the tolerant variety under waterlogging. Our findings suggest that energy management and root plasticity play important roles in mitigating the impact of waterlogging in zombi pea. The basic knowledge obtained from this study can be used in the molecular breeding of waterlogging-tolerant legume crops in the future.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zihan Liu ◽  
Sha Li ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Qi Liu ◽  
Lingli Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) plays a crucial role in the utilization of heterosis and various types of CMS often have different abortion mechanisms. Therefore, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms related to anther abortion in wheat, which remain unclear at present. Results In this study, five isonuclear alloplasmic male sterile lines (IAMSLs) and their maintainer were investigated. Cytological analysis indicated that the abortion type was identical in IAMSLs, typical and stainable abortion, and the key abortive period was in the binucleate stage. Most of the 1,281 core shared differentially expressed genes identified by transcriptome sequencing compared with the maintainer in the vital abortive stage were involved in the metabolism of sugars, oxidative phosphorylation, phenylpropane biosynthesis, and phosphatidylinositol signaling, and they were downregulated in the IAMSLs. Key candidate genes encoding chalcone--flavonone isomerase, pectinesterase, and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase were screened and identified. Moreover, further verification elucidated that due to the impact of downregulated genes in these pathways, the male sterile anthers were deficient in sugar and energy, with excessive accumulations of ROS, blocked sporopollenin synthesis, and abnormal tapetum degradation. Conclusions Through comparative transcriptome analysis, an intriguing core transcriptome-mediated male-sterility network was proposed and constructed for wheat and inferred that the downregulation of genes in important pathways may ultimately stunt the formation of the pollen outer wall in IAMSLs. These findings provide insights for predicting the functions of the candidate genes, and the comprehensive analysis of our results was helpful for studying the abortive interaction mechanism in CMS wheat.


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