Physiological and transcriptome analysis of Poa pratensis var. anceps cv. Qinghai in response to cold stress

Abstract

Background: Low temperature limits the growth and development and geographical distribution of plants. Poa pratensis is a cool-season turfgrass mainly grown in urban areas. However, low winter temperature or cold events in spring and autumn may cause P.pratensis mortality, affecting the appearance of lawns. P.pratensis var. anceps cv. Qinghai (PQ) is widely distributed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau above 3000 m. PQ has greater cold tolerance than the commercially cultivated P.pratensis varieties. However, existing studies on the response mechanism of PQ to low temperatures have mainly focused on physiological and biochemical perspectives, while changes in the PQ transcriptome during the response to cold stress have not been reported. Results: To investigate the molecular mechanism of the PQ cold response and identify genes to improve the lowtemperature tolerance of P.pratensis, we analyzed and compared the transcriptomes of PQ and the cold-sensitive P.pratensis cv. 'Baron' (PB) under cold stress using RNA sequencing. We identified 5996 and 3285 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the treatment vs control comparison of PQ and PB, respectively, with 5612 DEGs specific to PQ. Based on the DEGs, important Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, such as "starch and sucrose metabolism", "protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum", "phenylalanine metabolism" and "glycolysis/gluconeogenesis" were significantly enriched in PQ, and "starch and sucrose metabolism", "phenylpropanoid biosynthesis", "galactose metabolism" and "glutathione metabolism" were significantly enriched in PB. In addition, the "glycolysis" and "citrate cycle (TCA cycle)" pathways were identified as involved in cold tolerance of P.pratensis. Conclusions: As we know, this is the first study to explore the transcriptome of P.pratensis var. anceps cv. Qinghai. Our study not noly provides important insights into the molecular mechanisms of P.pratensis var. anceps cv. Qinghai responds to cold stress, but also systematically reveals the changes of key genes and products of glycolysis and TCA cycle in response to cold stress, which is conductive to the breeding of cold-tolerance P.pratensis genotype.

Transcriptome analysis of the winter wheat Dn1 in response to cold stress

“…In recent years, researchers have also found that CBF-dependent pathways are modulated by important regulators at the transcriptional, posttranscriptional and posttranslational levels [ 8 ]. RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) is a powerful technology capable of revealing the global transcriptional activities of any species at the mononucleotide level [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…In previous studies, researchers have comprehensively analysed gene functions and metabolic pathways at the transcriptional level under cold stress using RNA-seq technology [ 9 , 11 , 12 ]. Recent plant transcriptome studies have found that calcium ion (Ca 2+ ) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated signalling pathways and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades in plants are able to rapidly respond to cold stress [ 13 , 14 ].…”

“…was significantly up/downregulated under freezing stress and that galactose metabolism was involved in plant freezing tolerance using RNA-seq. Dong et al [ 9 ] found significant changes in related gene expression in glycolysis and the TCA cycle in the Poa pratensis L. transcriptome, which are involved in improving cold tolerance in plants.…”

Increasing Interspecific Difference of Alpine Herb Phenology on the Eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…They were particularly correlated to T gmean and T gmin based on Pearson correlation and stepwise regression analyses, showing the higher the T gmean and T gmin , the earlier the herbs green, the later the herbs senesce. This pattern is attributed to the low temperature that would enhance herb stress and immensely damage the leaf membrane system ( Dong et al, 2020 ), which in turn affects the growth and development of the herbs ( Chen et al, 2020 ) and vice versa .…”

Comparative Transcriptomics for Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under Cold Stress and after Rewarming

“…The comparison transcriptome of the tea plant under cold found that 978 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) owned by the tolerant and sensitive plants were enriched in pathways of photosynthesis and hormone signal transduction, among others, and considered that the different expression of Lhca2 and SNF1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) are correlated with cold tolerance [18]. Comparative transcriptomics of Poa pratensis systematically reveals the changes in key genes and products of glycolysis and TCA cycle in response to cold stress [19].…”