Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry and College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, People's Republic of China.
Department of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Govt. College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
BMC Plant Biol. 2021 Feb 2;21(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s12870-021-02844-7.
Carpet grass [Axonopus compressus (L.)] is an important warm-season perennial grass around the world and is known for its adaptability to varied environmental conditions. However, Carpet grass lacks enough data in public data banks, which confined our comprehension of the mechanisms of environmental adaptations, gene discovery, and development of molecular markers. In current study, the DEGs (differentially expressed genes) in Axonopus compressus under drought stress (DS) were identified and compared with CK (control) by RNA-Seq.
A total of 263,835 unigenes were identified in Axonopus compressus, and 201,303 (also added to the numbers of the remaining 2 databases) a sequence of unigenes significantly matched in at least one of the seven databases. A total of 153,697 (58.25%) unigenes classified to 144 KEGG pathways, and 7444 unigenes were expressed differentially between DS and CK, of which 4249 were up-regulated and 3195 were down-regulated unigenes. Of the 50 significantly enriched GO terms, 18, 6, and 14 items were related to BP, CC, and MF respectively. Analysis of KEGG enrichment revealed 2569 DEGs involved in 143 different pathways, under drought stress. 2747 DEGs were up-regulated and 2502 DEGs were down-regulated. Moreover, we identified 352 transcription factors (TFs) in Axonopus compressus, of which 270 were differentially expressed between CK and DS. The qRT-PCR validation experiment also supports the transcriptional response of Axonopus compressus against drought. Accuracy of transcriptome unigenes of Axonopus compressus was assessed with BLAST, which showed 3300 sequences of Axonopus compressus in the NCBI.
The 7444 unigenes were found to be between DS and CK treatments, which indicate the existence of a strong mechanism of drought tolerance in Axonopus compressus. The current findings provide the first framework for further investigations for the particular roles of these unigenes in Axonopus compressus in response to drought.
地毯草（Axonopus compressus（L.））是一种重要的暖季多年生草种，在全球范围内广泛分布，以适应多种环境条件而闻名。然而，地毯草在公共数据库中缺乏足够的数据，这限制了我们对环境适应机制、基因发现和分子标记开发的理解。在本研究中，通过 RNA-Seq 技术比较干旱胁迫（DS）下的 Axonopus compressus 和 CK（对照）的差异表达基因（DEGs）。
在 Axonopus compressus 中共鉴定出 263835 条 unigenes，其中 201303 条（加上其余 2 个数据库的序列）在至少一个数据库中有显著匹配的序列。共有 153697 条（58.25%）unigenes被分类到 144 个 KEGG 途径，7444 条 unigenes在 DS 和 CK 之间表达差异，其中 4249 条上调，3195 条下调。在 50 个显著富集的 GO 术语中，分别有 18、6 和 14 个项与 BP、CC 和 MF 有关。KEGG 富集分析显示，在干旱胁迫下，2569 个 DEGs 参与了 143 个不同的途径，其中 2747 个上调，2502 个下调。此外，我们鉴定出 Axonopus compressus 中的 352 个转录因子（TFs），其中 270 个在 CK 和 DS 之间表达差异。Axonopus compressus 转录组的 qRT-PCR 验证实验也支持了 Axonopus compressus 对干旱的转录响应。用 BLAST 评估了 Axonopus compressus 转录组的 unigenes 的准确性，在 NCBI 中发现了 3300 条 Axonopus compressus 序列。
在 DS 和 CK 处理之间发现了 7444 个 unigenes，这表明 Axonopus compressus 中存在强大的耐旱机制。本研究为进一步研究这些 unigenes在 Axonopus compressus 响应干旱中的特定作用提供了第一个框架。
