Zhou Ruijin, Wang Baoquan, Liu Qianwen, Li Shuda, Zhang Lulu
School of Horticulture Landscape Architecture, Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, Henan, China.
Henan Province Engineering Research Centers of Horticultural Plant Resource Utilization and Germplasm Enhancement, Xinxiang, Henan, China.
Sci Prog. 2025 Jul-Sep;108(3):368504251358640. doi: 10.1177/00368504251358640. Epub 2025 Aug 3.
The frequency of drought is expected to rise in many parts of the world with increasing climate change. Despite being an economically valuable plant species, the molecular mechanisms regulating the responses of peach () to drought stress and the functional genes conferring drought resistance are currently unknown. In this study, we investigated the phenotypic and physiological responses of peach seedlings to experimental conditions that included a control, a period of drought stress, and a rehydration period. We performed transcriptome sequencing and investigated differences in the transcriptome of peach seedlings exposed to different treatments. We also analyzed the functions and regulatory pathways of differentially expressed genes using GO and KEGG enrichment. The results showed that severe drought stress occurred in the peach seedlings on the sixth day of drought, and that the physiological responses of peach seedlings experiencing drought stress were significantly different from those in control conditions. We found 21348 differentially expressed genes in peach seedlings under drought stress, of which 10105 were up-regulated and 11243 were down-regulated in comparison with peach seedlings in control conditions. These differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in the biosynthesis of amino acids, metabolic pathways, antioxidant defense systems and the plant hormone signal transduction system. The results suggest that peach seedlings respond to severe drought stress by initiating antioxidant defense mechanisms to alleviate damages, activating different signal transduction pathways to transmit signals, regulating the synthesis of amino acids, and initiating metabolic mechanisms to enhance osmotic pressure. This study illuminates the mechanisms for drought resistance in peach seedlings at the molecular level. Overall, the findings provide a theoretical basis for the cloning and functional analysis of genes conferring drought resistance, and the cultivation of more drought resistant varieties of peach.
随着气候变化加剧，预计世界许多地区干旱发生的频率将会上升。尽管桃树是一种具有经济价值的植物物种，但目前调控桃树对干旱胁迫响应的分子机制以及赋予其抗旱性的功能基因尚不清楚。在本研究中，我们调查了桃树苗在包括对照、一段干旱胁迫期和复水期的实验条件下的表型和生理响应。我们进行了转录组测序，并研究了暴露于不同处理的桃树苗转录组的差异。我们还利用GO和KEGG富集分析了差异表达基因的功能和调控途径。结果表明，干旱第6天桃树苗出现严重干旱胁迫，经历干旱胁迫的桃树苗生理响应与对照条件下的显著不同。我们在干旱胁迫下的桃树苗中发现了21348个差异表达基因，与对照条件下的桃树苗相比，其中10105个上调，11243个下调。这些差异表达基因主要参与氨基酸生物合成、代谢途径、抗氧化防御系统和植物激素信号转导系统。结果表明，桃树苗通过启动抗氧化防御机制以减轻损伤、激活不同信号转导途径以传递信号、调节氨基酸合成以及启动代谢机制以增强渗透压来应对严重干旱胁迫。本研究在分子水平上阐明了桃树苗的抗旱机制。总体而言，这些发现为抗旱基因的克隆和功能分析以及培育更抗旱的桃树品种提供了理论依据。
