Physiological attributes and transcriptomics analyses reveal the mechanism response of Helictotrichon virescens to low temperature stress

Abstract

Background Helictotrichon virescens is a perennial grass that is primarily distributed in high altitude areas of 2000 ~ 4500 m. It is widely cultivated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China, strongly resistant to cold, and an essential part of the wild herbs in this region. However, the molecular mechanism of the response of H. virescens to low temperature stress and the key regulatory genes for specific biological processes are poorly understood. Results Physiological and transcriptome analyses were used to study the cold stress response mechanism in H virescens. During the low temperature stress period, the content of chlorophyll a and b decreased more and more with the delay of the treatment time. Among them, the difference between the controls was not significant, and the difference between the control and the treatment was significant. At the same time, the expression of related differential genes was up-regulated during low temperature treatment. In addition, the plant circadian pathway is crucial for their response to cold stress. The expression of differentially expressed genes that encode LHY and HY5 were strongly up-regulated during cold stress. Conclusions This study should help to fully understand how H. virescens responds to low temperatures. It answers pertinent questions in the response of perennial herbs to cold stress, i.e., how light and low temperature signals integrate to regulate plant circadian rhythms and Decrease of content of chlorophylls (which can be also accompanied with decrease of total quantity of reaction centers) leads to an increase in photosynthetic damage.

Tissue-Specific Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Response Mechanism of Cold Stress in Poa crymophila, a Native Grass in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

“…In addition, differences in the types and levels of TFs expression can significantly affect the ability of plants to adapt to cold stress. It has been shown that E. nutans specifically expresses bHLH, bZIP, C2H2, WRKY, and MYB TFs at the early stage of cold stress [22], and that the temporal specificity in the expression levels of the TFs enhances the cold tolerance of the plant [30]. In present study, the main differentially expressed TFs in P. crymophila at 3 days of cold treatment were AP2/ERF, bHLH, WRKY, MYB, bZIP, C2H2, and HSF TFs.…”

Comparative transcriptome profiling of potato cultivars infected by late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans: Diversity of quantitative and qualitative responses

“…Thus, external stimuli, including P. infestans elicitor-like secretion can trigger a defense response in the host and result in differential expression [ 8 ]. The enriched GO term response to oxygen-containing compounds may account for function including reduction of oxidative stress [ 25 , 30 , 150 ]. The majority of annotated genes in incompatible interaction between soybean lines and Phytophthora sojae were related to response to biotic and abiotic stress [ 79 ].…”