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Differentially Expressed Genes and Enriched Pathways During Drought-Sensitive Period Under Field Conditions in Bread Wheat

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Abstract

Understanding molecular basis of drought tolerance is important for improving wheat adaption to water-deficit environments. Stem elongation stage is a key period for wheat development and determination of potential grain number. In this study, RNA-seq analysis was conducted to study the effect of drought on wheat transcriptome changes during early stem elongation stage under field condition. In total, 5776 genes responded to drought at stem elongation stage. Seven pathways were significantly affected by drought, including “phagosome”, “Spliceosome”, “Peroxisome”, “Pentose phosphate pathway”, “Ribosome”, “Cutin, suberine and wax biosynthesis”, and “RNA transport”. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis confirmed the involvement of genes encoding tubulins, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD6), cuticular wax-associated proteins, and heat shock proteins in drought tolerance under multiple genetic backgrounds. Ongoing functional analyses of candidate genes will assist unraveling their biological roles in drought tolerance in wheat.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (2018YFD0300501, 2017YFD0300909), the China Agriculture Research System (CARS02-3), and the 100 Talents Programme of Hebei Province.

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Author notes

  1. Jun Ma and Yan Zhang contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Jun Ma

  2. North China Key Laboratory for Crop Germplasm Resources of Education Ministry, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, China

    Yan Zhang, Hongguang Wang, Wenchao Zhen, Yuechen Zhang, Huijun Duan, Yanming Li & Ruiqi Li

  3. The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, Perth, 6009, Australia

    Guijun Yan

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  1. Jun Ma
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Correspondence to Ruiqi Li.

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J. Ma, Y. Zhang, HG. Wang, WC. Zhen, YC. Zhang, HJ. Duan, YM. Li, GJ. Yan, and RQ. Li declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Key message

Transcriptome profiling identified 5776 genes responsive to drought stress at early stem elongation stage. Seven pathways were over-represented. Out of the DEGs associated with these pathways, 13 genes encoding tubulins, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, cuticular wax-associated proteins, and heat shock peroteins were selected and sucessfully validated for their involvement in drought tolerance through real-time quantitive PCR analysis.

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Ma, J., Zhang, Y., Wang, H. et al. Differentially Expressed Genes and Enriched Pathways During Drought-Sensitive Period Under Field Conditions in Bread Wheat. Plant Mol Biol Rep 37, 389–400 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-019-01163-4

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