Analysis of Whole Transcriptome RNA-seq Data Reveals Many Alternative Splicing Events in Soybean Roots under Drought Stress Conditions

Genes

Huatao Chen¹  Lin Chen²  Zhenzhi Pan²  Li Song²  Yi Dai²  HenryT Nguyen³  Heng Ye³  Jinrong Wan³  Guozheng Zhang⁴ 

[1] Institute of Industrial Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China;Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genomics and Molecular Breeding, Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;National Center for Soybean Biotechnology and Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA;National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, National Center for Soybean Improvement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;

关键词: soybean;    root;    alternative splicing;    drought response;    transcriptome;   

DOI  :  10.3390/genes11121520

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Alternative splicing (AS) is a common post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism that modulates gene expression to increase proteome diversity. Increasing evidence indicates that AS plays an important role in regulating plant stress responses. However, the mechanism by which AS coordinates with transcriptional regulation to regulate drought responses in soybean remains poorly understood. In this study, we performed a genome-wide analysis of AS events in soybean (Glycine max) roots grown under various drought conditions using the high-throughput RNA-sequencing method, identifying 385, 989, 1429, and 465 AS events that were significantly differentially spliced under very mild drought stress, mild drought stress, severe drought stress, and recovery after severe drought conditions, respectively. Among them, alternative 3′ splice sites and skipped exons were the major types of AS. Overall, 2120 genes that experienced significant AS regulation were identified from these drought-treated root samples. Gene Ontology term analysis indicated that the AS regulation of binding activity has vital roles in the drought response of soybean root. Notably, the genes encoding splicing regulatory factors in the spliceosome pathway and mRNA surveillance pathway were enriched according to the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Splicing regulatory factor-related genes in soybean root also responded to drought stress and were alternatively spliced under drought conditions. Taken together, our data suggest that drought-responsive AS acts as a direct or indirect mode to regulate drought response of soybean roots. With further in-depth research of the function and mechanism of AS in the process of abiotic stress, these results will provide a new strategy for enhancing stress tolerance of plants.

【 授权许可】

Unknown