Integrated multi‐omics analysis reveals drought stress response mechanism in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Abstract

Drought is one of the major constraints limiting chickpea productivity. To unravel complex mechanisms regulating drought response in chickpea, we generated transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics datasets from root tissues of four contrasting drought‐responsive chickpea genotypes: ICC 4958, JG 11, and JG 11+ (drought‐tolerant), and ICC 1882 (drought‐sensitive) under control and drought stress conditions. Integration of transcriptomics and proteomics data identified enriched hub proteins encoding isoflavone 4′‐O‐methyltransferase, UDP‐d‐glucose/UDP‐d‐galactose 4‐epimerase, and delta‐1‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate synthetase. These proteins highlighted the involvement of pathways such as antibiotic biosynthesis, galactose metabolism, and isoflavonoid biosynthesis in activating drought stress response mechanisms. Subsequently, the integration of metabolomics data identified six metabolites (fructose, galactose, glucose, myoinositol, galactinol, and raffinose) that showed a significant correlation with galactose metabolism. Integration of root‐omics data also revealed some key candidate genes underlying the drought‐responsive “QTL‐hotspot” region. These results provided key insights into complex molecular mechanisms underlying drought stress response in chickpea.

Exploring the genomics of abiotic stress tolerance and crop resilience to climate change

“…Nouraei et al (2023) utilized isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation proteomic analysis on nearisogenic lines, identifying five key proteins underlying the qDSI.4B.1 QTL on the short arm of chromosome 4B conferring drought tolerance in wheat. Additionally, in their investigation of the molecular basis of drought stress response in chickpea, Kudapa et al (2023) adopted an integrative "multiomics" approach, demonstrating the differential accumulation of transcripts, proteins, and metabolites in root tissues under drought conditions. The integration of transcriptomics and proteomics data unveiled hub proteins, encoding isoflavone 4′-O-methyltransferase and UDP-d-glucose/UDP-d-galactose 4-epimerase, involved in pathways such as antibiotic biosynthesis, galactose metabolism, and isoflavonoid biosynthesis to activate drought stress response mechanisms.…”

Celebrating Professor Rajeev K. Varshney's transformative research odyssey from genomics to the field on his induction as Fellow of the Royal Society

“…Similarly, his team used transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to unravel complex mechanisms regulating drought response in chickpea. The integrated root‐omics data identified key proteins (encoding isoflavone 4′‐O‐methyltransferase, UDP‐d‐glucose/UDP‐d‐galactose 4‐epimerase, and delta‐1‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate synthetase) and metabolites (fructose, galactose, glucose, myoinositol, galactinol, and raffinose) linked to various pathways crucial for drought response (Kudapa et al ., 2023).…”