The identified genes provide a foundation for future experimental validation and functional studies aimed at developing climate-resilient sorghum cultivars and highlight potential genetic targets for improving stress tolerance in sorghum.
Abstract
Background
Sorghum bicolor is a climate-resilient cereal crop capable of adapting to diverse environmental stresses. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying abiotic stress responses in sorghum is essential for improving crop resilience under changing climatic conditions. Integrative transcriptomic approaches using publicly available datasets provide an opportunity to identify conserved stress-responsive genes and regulatory networks associated with stress adaptation.
Results
In this study, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was conducted by combining microarray (GSE48205) and RNA-seq (GSE140928) datasets representing different abiotic stress conditions in sorghum. Differential expression analysis identified 1,097 overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the datasets. Protein-protein interaction network construction revealed significant gene connectivity, and network topology analysis using MCODE and CytoHubba identified several highly connected genes. Among these, four candidate hub genes-Sobic.010G233800, Sobic.001G453300, Sobic.001G191000, and Sobic.004G231800-showed strong centrality within the network. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that these genes were primarily associated with biosynthetic processes, nitrogen compound metabolism, ribosome-related functions, and organelle-associated pathways. Additional transcription factor enrichment analysis predicted putative associations with stress-responsive regulatory families, suggesting their potential involvement in abiotic stress-responsive cellular processes.
Conclusions
This integrative analysis identified conserved candidate hub genes associated with abiotic stress responses in sorghum. The findings provide insights into the molecular networks involved in stress adaptation and highlight potential genetic targets for improving stress tolerance in sorghum. Although the present study is computational, the identified genes provide a foundation for future experimental validation and functional studies aimed at developing climate-resilient sorghum cultivars.
FaNAC6 was selected for its strong induction in leaves and roots in response to drought and salinity, as well as under oxidative stress and ABA, and was associated with the upregulation of genes involved in photosystems, electron transport and carbon fixation.
Facundo Spadoni-Revol, M. D. Moreno-Recio, Sara Aguado-Delgado et al.· International Journal of Mol...· 0 citations
Background: Drought tolerance in wheat is a complex trait controlled by multiple regulatory networks, among which calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) act as important components linking stress perception with downstream cellular responses. However, the functional contribution of individual CDPK members to drought adaptation in wheat remains largely unclear. This study aimed to identify and functionally characterize drought-responsive CDPK genes associated with differential drought responses in wheat. Methods: Two wheat lines derived from the same breeding background exhibiting contrasting drought adaption, 23B1 and 23B39, were subjected to PEG6000-induced osmotic stress. Growth traits, osmotic adjustment-related metabolites, membrane damage indicators, and antioxidant enzyme activity were evaluated. Transcriptomic analysis was performed at early drought-response stages, followed by differential expression analysis, functional enrichment, CDPK family screening, and qRT-PCR validation. The role of TaCDPK22-5A was further investigated using barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV)-mediated virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Results: The drought-responsive line 23B1 maintained stronger growth, accumulated higher levels of proline and soluble sugars, exhibited enhanced peroxidase activity, and showed reduced membrane lipid peroxidation compared with 23B39. Transcriptome analysis revealed extensive transcriptional reprogramming under drought stress, with differentially expressed genes mainly associated with metabolic adjustment, transport regulation, secondary metabolism, and stress-responsive pathways. Among the identified CDPK members, TaCDPK22-5A showed a strong drought-responsive expression pattern in the line exhibiting stronger drought tolerance (23B1). Virus-induced gene silencing of TaCDPK22-5A significantly impaired drought tolerance, resulting in reduced growth, biomass accumulation, and chlorophyll retention under drought conditions. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that TaCDPK22-5A contributes positively to drought adaptation in wheat and highlight CDPK-mediated calcium signaling as an important regulatory component of drought responses. The identified gene provides a potential target for improving drought resilience in wheat breeding.
Bo Liu, Yu Li, Hui-Na Li et al.· Genes· 0 citations
Key transcriptomic mechanisms underlying Trichoderma responses to single and combined abiotic stresses are elucidated and provide a theoretical foundation for the targeted improvement of stress-tolerant strains to enhance their agricultural and industrial utility.
Changfa Liu, Xianzhi Lai, Wentao Zhu et al.· Current Microbiology· 0 citations
Drought stress driven by global climate change critically restricts mulberry growth. The identification of drought-responsive genes in the Yunnan-adapted Yunsang cultivar is essential for mitigating environmental constraints on sericulture. In this study, seedlings of the mulberry cultivar Yunsang-2 were subjected to drought stress under greenhouse conditions. Leaf samples were collected for physiological analysis (proline content and CAT and POD activities) and transcriptome profiling via RNA-Seq. The results revealed that compared with the plants in the CK group, the drought-stressed plants had significantly increased CAT and POD activities by 7 days post-stress (DPS) and accumulated markedly greater amounts of proline at 9 and 12 DPS. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that drought resistance involves key genes enriched in the abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin (GA), and brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathways, such as PYR, ABF, PIF3, and BSK. Furthermore, we identified 156 TFs as potential regulatory hubs. Among these genes, MnERF21 was tentatively identified as a candidate positive regulator of drought resistance. Our findings systematically elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in mulberry and provide novel insights into the drought resistance strategies of Yunnan-adapted germplasms.
Jie Li, Yi Deng, Qirong Ma et al.· BMC Plant Biology· 0 citations
It is demonstrated that heterologous expression of TksPLATZ1, TksPLATZ2 and TksPLATZ7 localize to the cell nucleus and act as transcriptional activators and repressors, respectively, which enhances the tolerance of Arabidopsis to salt and osmotic stress.
Jinxian Chen, Wenhao Wu, Ming-Hua Luo et al.· Phytochemistry· 0 citations
It is demonstrated that underutilized genome evolution data aids gene mining in complex crop genomes, providing novel genetic resources for wheat salt/alkali tolerance breeding and insights into auxin-mediated stress adaptation mechanisms.
Canghao Du, Wenboxin Wang, Yemu Chen et al.· Plant Cell Reports· 0 citations
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