AUTHOR=Lin Lin , Wang Jie , Wang Qun , Ji Mengcheng , Hong Sidan , Shang Linxue , Zhang Guozhe , Zhao Yu , Ma Qingqing , Gu Cuihua 

TITLE=Transcriptome Approach Reveals the Response Mechanism of Heimia myrtifolia (Lythraceae, Myrtales) to Drought Stress

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2022.877913

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2022.877913

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Drought is a major environmental condition that inhibits Hemia myrtifolia's development and cultivation. The molecular processes of H. myrtifolia's drought resistance has remained unknown, which has limited its application. In our study, the physiological and transcriptome analyses were compared at three stress times (0, 6, and 12 days), in order to investigate the molecular mechanism of drought resistance under natural drought stress. Plant leaves wilted and drooped as the duration of drought stress grew, the relative water content of leaves declined dramatically, and relative electrolyte leakage rose progressively. A total of 62,015 unigenes with an average length of 1,730 bp were found, with 86.61% of them annotated to seven databases, and 14,272 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found in the drought stress. The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses of the DEGs revealed significantly enriched KEGG pathways, including photosynthesis, photosynthetic antenna proteins, plant hormone signal transduction, glutathione metabolism, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, etc. Photosynthesis-related genes had their expression significantly reduced, abscisic acid-related genes were the most prevalent in hormone signaling, and other hormones were also prominently involved in stress response. The transcription factors (MYB, NAC, WRKY, bHLH, etc.) and related differential genes on these pathways all played important roles in the drought process. In conclusion, this study will provide a number of genetic resources for further investigation of the molecular process, which will be beneficial to Hemia myrtifolia cultivation and breeding.