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Chen J, Zhang L, Liu Y, Shen X, Guo Y, Ma X, Zhang X, Li X, Cheng T, Wen H, Qiao L, Chang Z. RNA-Seq-Based WGCNA and Association Analysis Reveal the Key Regulatory Module and Genes Responding to Salt Stress in Wheat Roots. Plants (Basel) 2024; 13:274. [PMID: 38256827 PMCID: PMC10818790 DOI: 10.3390/plants13020274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Soil salinization is the main abiotic stressor faced by crops. An improved understanding of the transcriptional response to salt stress in roots, the organ directly exposed to a high salinity environment, can inform breeding strategies to enhance tolerance and increase crop yield. Here, RNA-sequencing was performed on the roots of salt-tolerant wheat breeding line CH7034 at 0, 1, 6, 24, and 48 h after NaCl treatment. Based on transcriptome data, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was constructed, and five gene co-expression modules were obtained, of which the blue module was correlated with the time course of salt stress at 1 and 48 h. Two GO terms containing 249 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to osmotic stress response and salt-stress response were enriched in the blue module. These DEGs were subsequently used for association analysis with a set of wheat germplasm resources, and the results showed that four genes, namely a Walls Are Thin 1-related gene (TaWAT), an aquaporin gene (TaAQP), a glutathione S-transfer gene (TaGST), and a zinc finger gene (TaZFP), were associated with the root salt-tolerance phenotype. Using the four candidate genes as hub genes, a co-expression network was constructed with another 20 DEGs with edge weights greater than 0.6. The network showed that TaWAT and TaAQP were mainly co-expressed with fifteen interacting DEGs 1 h after salt treatment, while TaGST and TaZFP were mainly co-expressed with five interacting DEGs 48 h after salt treatment. This study provides key modules and candidate genes for understanding the salt-stress response mechanism in wheat roots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiating Chen
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Lei Zhang
- Department of Biology, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan 030031, China;
| | - Yingxi Liu
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Xinyao Shen
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Yujing Guo
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Xiaofei Ma
- Institute of Wheat Research, Shanxi Agricultural University, Linfen 041000, China
| | - Xiaojun Zhang
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Xin Li
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Tianling Cheng
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Huiqin Wen
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Linyi Qiao
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
| | - Zhijian Chang
- College of Agronomy, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Molecular Improvement, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China; (J.C.); (X.Z.); (X.L.); (T.C.); (H.W.)
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Zhang Y, Ni C, Dong Y, Jiang X, Liu C, Wang W, Zhao C, Li G, Xu K, Huo Z. The Role of the Ascorbic Acid-Glutathione Cycle in Young Wheat Ears' Response to Spring Freezing Stress. Plants (Basel) 2023; 12:4170. [PMID: 38140497 PMCID: PMC10748077 DOI: 10.3390/plants12244170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Freezing stress in spring often causes the death and abnormal development of young ears of wheat, leading to a significant reduction in grain production. However, the mechanisms of young wheat ears responding to freezing are largely unclear. In this study, the role of the ascorbic acid-glutathione cycle (AsA-GSH cycle) in alleviating freezing-caused oxidative damage in young wheat ears at the anther connective tissue formation phase (ACFP) was investigated. The results showed that the release rate of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the relative electrolyte conductivity in young ears of Jimai22 (JM22, freezing-tolerant) were significantly lower than those in young ears of Xumai33 (XM33, freezing-sensitive) under freezing. The level of the GSH pool (231.8~392.3 μg/g FW) was strikingly higher than that of the AsA pool (98.86~123.4 μg/g FW) in young wheat ears at the ACFP. Freezing significantly increased the level of the AsA pool and the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) in the young ears of both varieties. The level of the GSH pool increased in the young ears of XM33 under freezing but decreased in the young ears of JM22. The young ears of JM22 showed higher activities of glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) than the young ears of XM33 under freezing. Collectively, these results suggest that the AsA-GSH cycle plays a positive role in alleviating freezing-induced oxidative damage in young wheat ears. Furthermore, the ability of utilizing GSH as a substrate to scavenge ROS is an important factor affecting the freezing tolerance of young wheat ears. In addition, abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA) and cis-zeatin (cZ) may be involved in regulating the AsA-GSH cycle metabolism in young wheat ears under freezing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Weiling Wang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Physiology, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China; (Y.Z.); (C.N.); (Y.D.); (X.J.); (C.L.); (C.Z.); (G.L.); (K.X.)
| | | | | | | | - Zhongyang Huo
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Physiology, Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China; (Y.Z.); (C.N.); (Y.D.); (X.J.); (C.L.); (C.Z.); (G.L.); (K.X.)
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