Genome-Wide Gene Expression Profiles Analysis Reveal Novel Insights into Drought Stress in Foxtail Millet ( Setaria italica L.)

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 21; no. 22; p. 8520
• Main Authors: Qin, Ling, Chen, Erying, Li, Feifei, Yu, Xiao, Liu, Zhenyu, Yang, Yanbing, Wang, Runfeng, Zhang, Huawen, Wang, Hailian, Liu, Bin, Guan, Yan'an, Ruan, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 12.11.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - metabolism; Biosynthesis; Data recovery; Detoxification; Drought; Drought resistance; drought stress; Droughts; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Enzymes; foxtail millet; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene regulation; Genes; Genomes; Genomics; Kinases; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Millet; Oxidation; P5CS genes; Photosynthesis; Physiology; Plant Leaves; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant Roots; Proline; Proline - metabolism; Proteins; Rehydration; RNA sequencing; Salinity; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Setaria italica; Setaria Plant - metabolism; Signal processing; Signal Transduction; Starch; Stress, Physiological; Sucrose; Transcriptome; Transcriptomics; Water - chemistry; Water shortages; RNA sequencing; drought stress; P5CS genes; foxtail millet; gene expression
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms21228520

Foxtail millet ( (L.) P. Beauv) is an important food and forage crop because of its health benefits and adaptation to drought stress; however, reports of transcriptomic analysis of genes responding to re-watering after drought stress in foxtail millet are rare. The present study evaluated physiological parameters, such as proline content, p5cs enzyme activity, anti-oxidation enzyme activities, and investigated gene expression patterns using RNA sequencing of the drought-tolerant foxtail millet variety (Jigu 16) treated with drought stress and rehydration. The results indicated that drought stress-responsive genes were related to many multiple metabolic processes, such as photosynthesis, signal transduction, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, and osmotic adjustment. Furthermore, the Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase genes, and , were remarkably upregulated in foxtail millet under drought stress conditions. Foxtail millet can also recover well on rehydration after drought stress through gene regulation. Our data demonstrate that recovery on rehydration primarily involves proline metabolism, sugar metabolism, hormone signal transduction, water transport, and detoxification, plus reversal of the expression direction of most drought-responsive genes. Our results provided a detailed description of the comparative transcriptome response of foxtail millet variety Jigu 16 under drought and rehydration environments. Furthermore, we identify as an important gene likely involved in the drought tolerance of foxtail millet.