Comprehensive analysis of the gene expression profile of wheat at the crossroads of heat, drought and combined stress

Abstract

Heat and drought are among the leading environmental stresses which have a major impact on plant development. In our research, identification and characterization of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) regulating the response of wheat to drought, heat and combined stress was carried out. We analyzed data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO) microarrays containing 24 samples of wheat, which were categorized by different treatments (control: ctrl, drought: D, heat: H, and mixed: HD). Significant DEGs were examined for gene annotation, gene ontology, co-expression, protein-protein interaction (PPI) and their heterogeneity and consistency through drought, heat and combined stress was also studied. Genes such as gyrB, C6orf132 homolog, PYR1 were highly associated with wheat response to drought with P-value (-log10) of 9.3, 7.3, 6.4, and logFC of -3.9, 2.0, 1.6, respectively. DEGs associated with drought tolerance were highly related to the protein domains of lipid-transfer (LTP). Wheat response to heat stress was strongly associated with genes such as RuBisCO activase B, small heat shock, LTP3, YLS3, At2g33490, PETH with p-values (-log10) ranging from 9.3 to 12.3. In addition, a relatively high number of protein interactions involved the SDH, PEPCK, and G6PD genes under heat stress.

Similar Transcriptomic Responses to Early and Late Drought Stresses Produce Divergent Phenotypes in Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

“…Some lectins, such as ricin B-like lectins, are implicated in drought stress response [68,69]. Moreover, R40G3 has been identified as highly DE in drought stress experiments in barley [70] and wheat [71]. This gene was DE in early stress but not after late stress.…”

Effects of drought and high temperature on physiological and biochemical processes, and productivity of plants nanochelates

“…На додаток до фізіологічних досліджень аналіз транскриптомів рослин, підданих одночасному впливу посухи та високої температури, продемонстрував, що ця комбінація стресів призвела до нового профілю експресії транскриптів, який не можна було передбачити під час вивчення кожного з цих стресів, застосованих окремо [27]. Згідно з цими дослідженнями, комбінація абіотичних стресів активувала специфічні набори транскриптів, які представляли нові програми експресії генів, формуючи молекулярно-біологічну основу пояснення унікальної реакції рослин на комбіновані стреси [128]. Наприклад, арабідопсис [121], тютюн [129], тверда пшениця [130] і сорго [131], показали унікальні транскриптомні зміни при комбінації стресів.…”

Editorial: Drought Threat: Responses and Molecular-Genetic Mechanisms of Adaptation and Tolerance in Wheat

“…Many studies related to drought responses in wheat have been carried out recently describing key genes and transcription regulators involved in regulating the main morpho-physiological traits (Bi et al, 2016 ; Poersch-Bortolon et al, 2016 ; Kulkarni et al, 2017 ; Liu et al, 2018 ; El-Esawi et al, 2019 ; Zotova et al, 2019 , 2020 ). Gene expression study has also been conducted in wheat grown under drought and heat stresses, indicating combined effects (Alsamman et al, 2021 ). Plant responses to drought are complex, where acquired changes at multiple levels combine to alter plant morphology, cell biochemistry and gene regulation.…”