Identification and characterization ofNACgenes in response to abiotic stress conditions inPicea wilsoniiusing transcriptome sequencing

Abstract

Picea wilsonii is widely used for a forestation and landscaping in China. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying abiotic stress tolerance in this species remain elusive. In this study, we examined the transcriptomic changes induced by drought and salt stress in 8-week-old seedlings of P. wilsonii via RNA-Seq analysis; seedlings grown under normal conditions (without abiotic stress) served as a control. Approximately 36.26 Gb of transcriptome data were obtained from the three treatments. A total of 4171 (2579 up-regulated and 1732 down-regulated) and 3438 (1592 up-regulated and 1706 down-regulated) differentially expressed genes were identified under drought and salt treatments, respectively. Both RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR analyses showed that the expression of PwNAC genes, including PwNAC11, 24, 36, 38, 45, 47, 51 and 52, was greatly induced not only by salt stress but also by drought treatment, suggesting that these genes are involved in both salt and drought stress resistance in P. wilsonii. This is the first report of the transcriptome analysis of P. wilsonii. Our data will serve as a valuable genomic resource for the further characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying abiotic stress tolerance in P. wilsonii.

NAC Transcription Factor PwNAC11 Activates ERD1 by Interaction with ABF3 and DREB2A to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

“…Overexpression of PwNAC30 apparently reduced the survival rates of transgenic Arabidopsis when subjected to drought and salt treatment [29], suggesting the distinct role and multiple function of different members of the NAC family from P. wilsonii in response to abiotic stress. Here, based on the high-throughput RNA-seq of the expression profiles of P. wilsonii in the absence or presence of drought treatments [30], we identified PwNAC11 as one of the most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) on a transcriptional level, which is a homologue of Arabidopsis NAC transcription factors ANAC019 and ANAC072 (RD26). Protein multiple sequence alignment and BLAST analysis showed that the conserved N-terminal of PwNAC11 protein had a typical NAM domain and its C-terminal was comparatively variable.…”

“…Previously, we identified two NAC transcription factors-PwNAC2 and PwNAC30-from P. wilsonii, which acted as positive and negative regulators in response to abiotic stress, respectively [28,29], suggesting the complexity and functional diversity of NAC TF members in coniferous forests. Here, based on the high-throughput RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) of the expression profiles of P. wilsonii in the absence or presence of drought treatments [30], we identify PwNAC11 as one of the most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) on a transcriptional level and further elucidate the function and molecular mechanism underlying the ABA-mediated drought stress response. We found that overexpression of PwNAC11 in Arabidopsis obviously improved tolerance to drought stress by binding to the promoter of ERD1.…”

Picea wilsonii NAC31 and DREB2A Cooperatively Activate ERD1 to Modulate Drought Resistance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

“…Based on our previous RNA-seq analysis [30], the full-length coding region of PwNAC31 was amplified from cDNA of Picea wilsonii, which had an ORF (open reading frame) with 975 bp. Its corresponding protein contained 324 amino acids.…”

“…Therefore, it is necessary to uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in P. wilsonii. In our previous reports, multiple PwNAC genes were identified under drought stress based on transcriptome data analysis [30], but little is known about their function. In this study, we identified a novel NAC TF, PwNAC31, from the RNA-seq database.…”

DIA (Data Independent Acquisition) proteomic based study on maize filling-kernel stage drought stress-responsive proteins and metabolic pathways

“…Meanwhile, there have been many studies on the analysis of crop resistance to drought stress, but most of them have mainly focused on physiology and biochemistry [18][19][20] and transcriptomic analysis [21][22][23][24]. For instance, Guo et al [25] examined the transcriptomic changes induced by drought and salt stress in 8-week-old seedlings of Picea wilsonii via RNA-seq analysis. Previously, we conducted comparative RNA-seq transcriptome studies [26][27][28] and identified several candidate genes and metabolic pathways for drought tolerance in maize, including secondary metabolite biosynthesis related enzymes, such as probable Omethlytransfarase 2 (OMT2; Zm00001d019613) [28]; transcription factors (TF) such as MYBs, NAC and WRKYs; detoxification and stress responsive proteins including aquaporin PIP2-4 (Zm00001d017288), HSPs and GSTs [26][27][28].…”