Transcriptional analysis in multiple barley varieties identifies signatures of waterlogging response

Abstract

Waterlogging leads to major crop losses globally, particularly for waterlogging sensitive crops such as barley. Waterlogging reduces oxygen availability and results in additional stresses, leading to the activation of hypoxia and stress response pathways that promote plant survival. Although certain barley varieties have been shown to be more tolerant to waterlogging than others, the molecular mechanisms underlying this trait are mostly unknown. Here, we surveyed 21 barley varieties for the transcriptional activation of conserved hypoxia-response genes under waterlogging. We selected five varieties that showed differential induction of core hypoxia-response genes during waterlogging treatment and further characterized their phenotypic response to waterlogging stress, with the aim of categorizing them as waterlogging sensitive or tolerant varieties. RNA-sequencing to evaluate the transcriptional responses of these selected varieties to waterlogging led to the identification of a set of 98 core waterlogging-response genes in barley. We further identified groups of genes whose expression correlated with the varietal differences in waterlogging tolerance. These datasets identify potential candidates for molecular markers and/or gene targeting to improve waterlogging tolerance in barley.HighlightThis study identifies 5 barley varieties with different tolerance to waterlogging. We provide the first RNA-seq datasets identifying both conserved and unique transcriptional responses in both waterlogging tolerant and sensitive barley varieties.

Molecular Mechanisms in Understanding Anoxia Tolerance in Rice Seeds under Submergence and Their Implication in Rice Biotechnology

“…Unlike other plants, deficits in energy can be recovered with a high value when the same tissue is transferred to aerobic conditions [42]. This may imply the potential of coleoptiles of rice under anoxia, which succeeds with a high value of energy charge [43]. In contrast, ethanol production is the most crucial for hypoxia tolerance, as proved by the alcohol dehydrogenase 1 (adh1) mutant.…”