Transcriptome changes induced by abiotic stresses in Artemisia annua

Abstract

Artemisia annua is known to be the source of artemisinin worldwide which is an antimalarial compound but is synthesised in very limited amount in the plant. Most research laid emphasis on the methods of enhancing artemisinin but our study has been planned in a way that it may simultaneously address two problems encountered by the plant. Firstly, to know the effect on the artemisinin content in the era of climate change because the secondary metabolites tend to increase under stress. Secondly, to identify some of the stress responsive genes that could help in stress tolerance of the plant under abiotic stress. Hence, the A. annua plants were subjected to four abiotic stresses (salt, cold, drought and water-logging) and it was observed that the artemisinin content increased in all the stress conditions except drought. Next, in order to identify the stress responsive genes, the transcriptome sequencing of the plants under stress was carried out resulting in 89,362 transcripts for control and 81,328, 76,337, 90,470 and 96,493 transcripts for salt, cold, drought, and water logging stresses. This investigation provides new insights for functional studies of genes involved in multiple abiotic stresses and potential candidate genes for multiple stress tolerance in A. annua.

Analysis of the regulation networks in grapevine reveals response to waterlogging stress and candidate gene-marker selection for damage severity

“…Many of the genes are known to have responded to stimulus ( figure 3 ). Similar root waterlogging experiments in poplar, cotton and Artemisia annua [ 1 , 9 , 47 ] have shown increased expression of glycolysis, fermentation and some catabolism pathways, and decreased expression of synthesis pathways, cell wall and secondary metabolism-associated genes. The gene transcription responses to waterlogging in grapevine resemble that in Arabidopsis subjected to O 2 deprivation [ 7 ], indicating that the major factor in waterlogging stress is lack of O 2 , at least initially.…”

Enhancing artemisinin content in and delivery from Artemisia annua: a review of alternative, classical, and transgenic approaches

“…Salinity also has an impact on artemisinin production. Vashisth et al (2018) reported a 14.68% increase in artemisinin content in A. annua plants under salt stress. They suggested that dihydroartemisinic acid acts as a free radical scavenger, helping to quench increased singlet oxygen, resulting in enhancement of artemisinin as the stable end product (Yang et al 2010).…”

Ocimum metabolomics in response to abiotic stresses: Cold, flood, drought and salinity

“…Leaf samples from the whole plant were collected and pooled for sequencing in triplicates as well as other molecular and metabolite analysis. Samples were stored in RNA later (Sigma Aldrich) at -800C until use [27].…”