Transcriptome analysis revealed gene regulatory network involved in PEG-induced drought stress in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum Tararicum)

Juan Huang; Qijiao Chen; Yuping Rong; Bin Tang; Liwei Zhu; Rongrong Ren; Taoxiong Shi; Qingfu Chen

doi:10.7717/peerj.11136

Transcriptome analysis revealed gene regulatory network involved in PEG-induced drought stress in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum Tararicum)

PeerJ. 2021 Mar 31:9:e11136. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11136. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Juan Huang^#¹, Qijiao Chen^#¹, Yuping Rong¹, Bin Tang¹, Liwei Zhu¹, Rongrong Ren¹, Taoxiong Shi¹, Qingfu Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Guizhou Normal University, Research Center of Guizhou Buckwheat Engineering and Technology, Research Center of Buckwheat Industry Technology, Guiyang, Guizhou, P.R. China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Tartary buckwheat is a nutritious pseudo-cereal crop that is resistant to abiotic stresses, such as drought. However, the buckwheat's mechanisms for responding to drought stress remains unknown. We investigated the changes in physiology and gene expression under drought stress, which was simulated by treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG). Five physiological indexes, namely MDA content, H₂O₂ content, CAT activity, SOD activity, and POD activity, were measured over time after 20% PEG treatment. All indexes showed dramatic changes in response to drought stress. A total of 1,190 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using RNA-seq and the most predominant were related to a number of stress-response genes and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. DEGs were gathered into six clusters and were found to be involved in the ABA biosynthesis and signal pathway based on hierarchical clustering and GO and KEGG pathway enrichment. Transcription factors, such as NAC and bZIP, also took part in the response to drought stress. We determined an ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathway in the regulation of drought stress in Tartary buckwheat. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first transcriptome analysis of drought stress in Tartary buckwheat, and our results provide a comprehensive gene regulatory network of this crop in response to drought stress.

Keywords: ABA; Drought stress; Tartary buckwheat; Transcription factor; Transcriptome.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Joint project of National Science Foundation of China and Guizhou provincial government Karst Science Research Center (U1812401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760419, 32060508), and the Initial Fund for Doctor Research in Guizhou Normal University (11904/0516031), the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Foundation (QianKeHePingTaiRenCai [2017]5726), Natural Science Foundation of Guizhou Province (QKHJC[2016]1106), and the Earmarked Fund for construction of the Key Laboratory for Conservation and Innovation of Buckwheat Germplasm in Guizhou (QianJiaoHe KY Zi [2017]002). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.