Zhou Peng, Su Liantai, Lv Aimin, Wang Shengyin, Huang Bingru, An Yuan
School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
Int J Genomics. 2016;2016:2095195. doi: 10.1155/2016/2095195. Epub 2016 Dec 15.
Acid-Aluminum (Al) is toxic to plants and greatly affects crop production worldwide. To understand the responses of plants to acid soils and Aluminum toxicity, we examined global gene expression using microarray data in alfalfa seedlings with the treatment of acid-Aluminum. 3,926 genes that were identified significantly up- or downregulated in response to Al ions with pH 4.5 treatment, 66.33% of which were found in roots. Their functional categories were mainly involved with phytohormone regulation, reactive oxygen species, and transporters. Both gene ontology (GO) enrichment and KEGG analysis indicated that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, phenylalanine metabolism, and flavonoid biosynthesis played a critical role on defense to Aluminum stress in alfalfa. In addition, we found that transcription factors such as the MYB and WRKY family proteins may be also involved in the regulation of reactive oxygen species reactions and flavonoid biosynthesis. Thus, the finding of global gene expression profile provided insights into the mechanisms of plant defense to acid-Al stress in alfalfa. Understanding the key regulatory genes and pathways would be advantageous for improving crop production not only in alfalfa but also in other crops under acid-Aluminum stress.
酸铝对植物有毒害作用，在全球范围内极大地影响作物产量。为了解植物对酸性土壤和铝毒性的反应，我们利用微阵列数据检测了经酸铝处理的苜蓿幼苗的全基因组表达情况。在pH值为4.5的铝离子处理下，共鉴定出3926个显著上调或下调的基因，其中66.33%在根中被发现。它们的功能类别主要涉及植物激素调节、活性氧和转运蛋白。基因本体（GO）富集分析和KEGG分析均表明，苯丙烷生物合成、苯丙氨酸代谢和类黄酮生物合成在苜蓿抵御铝胁迫中起关键作用。此外，我们发现MYB和WRKY家族蛋白等转录因子可能也参与活性氧反应和类黄酮生物合成的调控。因此，全基因组表达谱的研究结果为苜蓿抵御酸铝胁迫的机制提供了见解。了解关键调控基因和途径不仅有利于提高苜蓿在酸铝胁迫下生长的作物产量，也有利于提高其他作物的产量。
