Comparative physiological and coexpression network analyses reveal the potential drought tolerance mechanism of peanut

Abstract

Background Drought stress has negative effects on plant growth and productivity. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of physiological responses and gene expression was performed. The responses and expressions were compared between drought-tolerant (DT) and drought-sensitive (DS) peanut varieties to investigate the regulatory mechanisms and hub genes involved in the impact of drought stress on culture. Results The drought-tolerant variety had robust antioxidative capacities with higher total antioxidant capacity and flavonoid contents, and it enhanced osmotic adjustment substance accumulation to adapt to drought conditions. KEGG analysis of differentially expressed genes demonstrated that photosynthesis was strongly affected by drought stress, especially in the drought-sensitive variety, which was consistent with the more severe suppression of photosynthesis. The hub genes in the key modules related to the drought response, including genes encoding protein kinase, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, potassium transporter, pentatricopeptide repeat-containing protein, and aspartic proteinase, were identified through a comprehensive combined analysis of genes and physiological traits using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. There were notably differentially expressed genes between the two varieties, suggesting the positive roles of these genes in peanut drought tolerance. Conclusion A comprehensive analysis of physiological traits and relevant genes was conducted on peanuts with different drought tolerances. The findings revealed diverse drought-response mechanisms and identified candidate genes for further research.

Improving chilling tolerance of peanut seedlings by enhancing antioxidant‐modulated ROS scavenging ability, alleviating photosynthetic inhibition, and mobilizing nutrient absorption

“…These data demonstrate that the enhanced ability to prevent ROS accumulation might contribute to the chilling tolerance of NH5. Our findings are in line with those of previous studies demonstrating that plants with a greater chilling tolerance also exhibit greater antioxidant activity under abiotic stress (Ahmad Lone et al 2022;Ren et al 2022). The ROS induced by chilling stress may act as signalling molecules that trigger defence responses.…”

The transcriptional regulatory network of hormones and genes under salt stress in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

“…Garg et al had constructed several regulatory networks related to chickpea development (Garg et al, 2017). Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) could also offer foundation for the mining of potential hub genes using hierarchical clustering (Ren et al, 2022). These findings demonstrated that the identification of regulatory networks might be effective for precisely understanding transcriptional regulatory mechanisms by using transcriptome analysis.…”

Integrative multi‐omics analysis reveals the crucial biological pathways involved in the adaptive response to NaCl stress in peanut seedlings

“…The JAZ expression was significantly lower in ST than SS in this study, and MYC2 was significantly higher than SS, which may be due to the promotion of the JA hormone transduction pathway (Table S6). JA accumulation is a key metabolite that causes cold and drought resistance in peanuts (Ren et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2020a), and can enhance the ability of plants to resist adversity (Zhang et al, 2019). The correlation coefficient of LOC112696383 and LOC112790545 encoding the JAZ protein with JA was 0.95.…”

“…JA accumulation is a key metabolite that causes cold and drought resistance in peanuts (Ren et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2020a), and can enhance the ability of plants to resist adversity (Zhang et al, 2019).…”