Engineering and Technology Research Center for Sweetpotato of Chongqing, School of Life Science, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 21;24(18):14398. doi: 10.3390/ijms241814398.
Sweetpotato ( (L.) Lam.) is a globally significant storage root crop, but it is highly susceptible to yield reduction under severe drought conditions. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of sweetpotato resistance to drought stress is helpful for the creation of outstanding germplasm and the selection of varieties with strong drought resistance. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the phenotypic and physiological traits of 17 sweetpotato breeding lines and 10 varieties under drought stress through a 48 h treatment in a Hoagland culture medium containing 20% PEG6000. The results showed that the relative water content (RWC) and vine-tip fresh-weight reduction (VTFWR) in XS161819 were 1.17 and 1.14 times higher than those for the recognized drought-resistant variety Chaoshu 1. We conducted RNA-seq analysis and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) on two genotypes, XS161819 and 18-12-3, which exhibited significant differences in drought resistance. The transcriptome analysis revealed that the hormone signaling pathway may play a crucial role in determining the drought resistance in sweetpotato. By applying WGCNA, we identified twenty-two differential expression modules, and the midnight blue module showed a strong positive correlation with drought resistance characteristics. Moreover, twenty candidate Hub genes were identified, including (), (), and (), which are potentially involved in the regulation of drought resistance in sweetpotato. These findings provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying drought resistance in sweetpotato and offer valuable genetic resources for the development of drought-resistant sweetpotato varieties in the future.
甘薯（(L.) Lam.）是一种全球重要的块根作物，但在严重干旱条件下，其产量极易受到影响。因此，了解甘薯抗旱的机制有助于创造优秀的种质资源和选择具有较强抗旱性的品种。在这项研究中，我们通过在含有 20% PEG6000 的 Hoagland 培养基中对 17 个甘薯育种系和 10 个品种进行 48 小时处理，对它们在干旱胁迫下的表型和生理特性进行了综合分析。结果表明，XS161819 的相对含水量（RWC）和梢端鲜重减少率（VTFWR）分别比公认的抗旱品种 Chaoshui 1 高 1.17 倍和 1.14 倍。我们对两个基因型 XS161819 和 18-12-3 进行了 RNA-seq 分析和加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA），这两个基因型在抗旱性方面表现出显著差异。转录组分析表明，激素信号通路可能在决定甘薯抗旱性方面发挥着关键作用。通过应用 WGCNA，我们鉴定出了 22 个差异表达模块，午夜蓝模块与抗旱特性表现出强烈的正相关性。此外，还鉴定出了 20 个候选 Hub 基因，包括 (), (), 和 (), 它们可能参与了甘薯抗旱性的调控。这些发现为甘薯抗旱性的分子机制提供了重要的见解，并为未来培育抗旱性甘薯品种提供了有价值的遗传资源。
