Transcriptional Network Analysis Reveals Drought Resistance Mechanisms of AP2/ERF Transgenic Rice

• Published in: Frontiers in plant science Vol. 8; p. 1044
• Main Authors: Ahn, Hongryul, Jung, Inuk, Shin, Seon-Ju, Park, Jinwoo, Rhee, Sungmin, Kim, Ju-Kon, Jung, Woosuk, Kwon, Hawk-Bin, Kim, Sun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 15.06.2017
• Subjects: drought stress; drought tolerance; network analysis; NGS data analysis; Plant Science; rice; transcription factors; drought tolerance; network analysis; drought stress; rice; transcription factors; NGS data analysis
• ISSN: 1664-462X; 1664-462X
• DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01044

This study was designed to investigate at the molecular level how a transgenic version of rice "Nipponbare" obtained a drought-resistant phenotype. Using multi-omics sequencing data, we compared wild-type rice (WT) and a transgenic version ( ) that had obtained a drought-resistant phenotype by overexpressing , a member of the AP2/ERF transcription factor (TF) family. A comprehensive bioinformatics analysis pipeline, including TF networks and a cascade tree, was developed for the analysis of multi-omics data. The results of the analysis showed that the presence of at the source of the network controlled global gene expression levels in a specific manner to make survive longer than WT. Our analysis of the time-series transcriptome data suggests that diverted more energy to survival-critical mechanisms related to translation, oxidative response, and DNA replication, while further suppressing energy-consuming mechanisms, such as photosynthesis. To support this hypothesis further, we measured the net photosynthesis level under physiological conditions, which confirmed the further suppression of photosynthesis in . In summary, our work presents a comprehensive snapshot of transcriptional modification in transgenic rice and shows how this induced the plants to acquire a drought-resistant phenotype.