Hsa_circ_0109320 Serves as a Novel Circular RNA Biomarker in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer by Promoting Metastasis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, ranks among the top 10 cancers worldwide in terms of prevalence and mortality. NSCLC, a highly malignant tumor, exhibits distant invasion and migration as well as an unfavorable prognosis. As an innovative circular RNA, hsa _circ_0109320 (circ_0109320) has been recognized as a promising cancer modulator. However, our understanding of the influence of circ_0109320 in NSCLC remains insufficient. Our research explored the clinical significance and effects of circ_0109320 on oncogenic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) phenotypes. Microarray analysis and qPCR indicated that circ_0109320 expression in NSCLC specimens increased relative to that in adjacent normal tissues and was further elevated in metastatic lymph nodes. The specimens acquired from 25 patients confirmed these findings. Additionally, circ_0109320 indicated a good score (AUC = 0.688, P = 0.013) on the ROC curves, which suggests its suitability as a promising biomarker for lung cancer. Meanwhile, circ_0109320 was noticeably upregulated in lung cancer (LC) cell lines compared to human bronchial epithelial cells. Next, we performed loss- and gain-of-function experiments to examine the role of circ_0109320 in the tumor phenotypes of the cell lines. We observed that depletion or overexpression of circ_0109320 did not alter cell viability. However, the ectopic removal of circ_0109320 repressed the migration and invasion of A549 and SK-MES-1 cells, whereas circ_0109320 overexpression promoted cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, the examination of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers indicated that circ_0109320 elevates cell EMT activity. In conclusion, circ_0109320 level was highly associated with increased tumor cell proliferation and metastasis. circ_0109320 could be a promising predictor of clinical outcomes and a reliable target to treat NSCLC by inhibiting metastasis.

Improved Short-Circuit Current and Fill Factor in PM6:Y6 Organic Solar Cells through D18-Cl Doping.

Based on the PM6:Y6 binary system, a novel non-fullerene acceptor material, D18-Cl, was doped into the PM6:Y6 blend to fabricate the active layer. The effects of different doping ratios of D18-Cl on organic solar cells were investigated. The best-performing organic solar cell was achieved when the doping ratio of D18-Cl reached 20 wt%. It exhibited a short-circuit current of 28.13 mA/cm2, a fill factor of 70.25%, an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.81 V, and a power conversion efficiency of 16.08%. The introduction of an appropriate amount of D18-Cl expanded the absorption spectrum of the active layer, improved the morphology of the active layer, reduced large molecular aggregation and defects, minimized bimolecular recombination, and optimized the collection efficiency of charge carriers. These results indicate the critical importance of selecting an appropriate third component in binary systems and optimizing the doping ratio to enhance the performance of ternary organic solar cells.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Genes Related to Water-Melon Fruit Expansion under Low-Light Stress.

Watermelon is one of people's favorite fruits globally. Fruit size is one of the important characteristics of fruit quality. Low light can seriously affect fruit development, but there have been no reports concerning molecular mechanism analysis in watermelons involved in fruit expansion under low-light stress. To understand this mechanism, the comparative transcriptomic file of watermelon fruit flesh at four different developmental stages under different light levels was studied. The results showed that the fruit size and content of soluble sugar and amino acids at low-light stress significantly decreased compared to the control. In addition, 0-15 DAP was the rapid expansion period of watermelon fruit affected by shading. In total, 8837 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and 55 DEGs were found to play a role in the four different early fruit development stages. We also found that genes related to oxidation-reduction, secondary metabolites, carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism and transcriptional regulation played a key role in watermelon fruit expansion under low-light stress. This study provides a foundation to investigate the functions of low-light stress-responsive genes and the molecular mechanism of the effects of low-light stress on watermelon fruit expansion.

Presence of TSHR in NK Cells and Action of TSH on NK Cells.

INTRODUCTION: Thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) is widely expressed in human tissues and cells. TSHR is not only involved in thyroid disease but also in the neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network. However, no study has exclusively focused on the expression and function of TSHR in natural killer (NK) cells. METHODS: We studied TSHR expression using reverse transcription PCR to verify TSHR mRNA transcripts in human and mouse NK cells. Human and mouse thyroid and liver tissues as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or spleen lymphoid cells (SLCs) were used as controls. The TSHR protein levels in NK-92 cells were determined by immunofluorescence staining. The function of TSHR in NK cells was investigated by measuring the TSH-stimulated cAMP levels. RESULTS: TSHR mRNA was detected in human and mouse NK cells as well as in NK-92 cells and had the same sequence as that of thyroid-derived, PBMC-derived, and liver-derived mRNA. The TSHR protein was also expressed in the cell membrane of NK-92 cells. Furthermore, the cAMP levels in NK-92 cells were significantly higher after adding 102 mIU/mL of bovine TSH at p < 0.05, which stimulated cAMP production in NK-92 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that TSHR is present and functional in NK cells and provide key clues for the potential regulatory effects of TSH on TSHR in NK cells in the immune system.

A novel MnOOH coated nylon membrane for efficient removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol through peroxymonosulfate activation.

2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) is a highly toxic water contaminant. In this study, we demonstrate a novel catalytic filtration membrane by coating MnOOH nanoparticles on nylon membrane (MnOOH@nylon) for improved removal of 2,4-DCP through a synergetic "trap-and-zap" process. In this hybrid membrane, the underlying nylon membrane provides high adsorption affinity for 2,4-DCP. While the immobilized MnOOH nanoparticles on the membrane surface provide catalytic property for peroxymonosulfate activation to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which migrate with the fluid to the underlying nylon membrane pore channels and react with the adsorbed 2,4-DCP with a much higher rate (0.9575 mg L-1 min-1) than that in the suspended MnOOH particle system (0.1493 mg L-1 min-1). The forced flow in the small voids of the MnOOH nanoparticle coating layer (< 200 nm) and channels of nylon membrane (~220 nm) is critical to improve the 2,4-DCP adsorption, ROS production, and 2,4-DCP degradation. The hybrid MnOOH@nylon membrane also improves the stability of the MnOOH nanoparticles and the resistibility to competitive anions, due to much higher concentration ratio of the adsorbed 2,4-DCP and produced ROS versus background competitive ions in the membrane phase. This study provides a generally applicable approach to achieve high removal of target contaminants in catalytic membrane processes.

Genome-wide identification, characterization, and expression analysis of the expansin gene family in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus).

Expansins are plant cell-wall loosening proteins involved in cell enlargement, adaptive responses to environmental stimuli, and various developmental processes. Although expansins have been characterized in many plant species, little is reported on this family in watermelon. In this study, 30 expansin genes in the watermelon genome (ClEXPs) were identified. These genes which were divided into four subfamilies (7 ClEXLAs, 2 ClEXLBs, 18 ClEXPAs, and 3 ClEXPBs) are unevenly distribute on 10 of 11 watermelon chromosomes. Chromosome mapping suggested that tandem duplication events may have played important roles in the expanding of watermelon expansins. Gene structure and motif identification revealed that same subfamily and subgroup have conserved gene structure and motif. Detection of cis-acting elements revealed that ClEXPs gene promoter regions were enriched with light-responsive elements, hormone-responsive, environmental stress-related, and development-related elements. Expression patterns of ClEXPs were investigated by qRT-PCR. The results showed that expression patterns of 15 ClEXP genes differed in three tissues. Through our own and public RNA-seq analysis, we found that ClEXPs had different expression patterns in fruit flesh, fruit rind, and seed at various developmental stages, and most of ClEXPs were highly responsive to abiotic and biotic stresses. Remarkably, 7 ClEXPs (ClEXLA1, ClEXLA6, ClEXLB1, ClEXLB2, ClEXPA5, ClEXPA10, and ClEXPA16) exhibited positive response to at least three kinds of stresses, suggesting that they might play important roles in the crosstalk of stress signal pathways. The results of this study provide useful insights for the functional identification of expansin gene family in watermelon.

Towards a simultaneous combination of ozonation and biodegradation for enhancing tetracycline decomposition and toxicity elimination.

In this study, a new intimately coupling technology of advanced oxidation and biodegradation was proposed, called simultaneous combination of ozonation and biodegradation (SCOB), which uses ozonation in place of traditional photocatalysis. SCOB was evaluated for its ability to degrade and detoxify tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH). Biodegradation alone only resulted in negligible TCH removal, while ozone alone caused less effective performance, with TCH degradation rate constants of 29-171% lower than those of SCOB. The optimal ozone dose was 2.0 mg-O3/(L·h), and it contributed to remove 97% of the TCH within 2 h under SCOB operation. The SCOB effluent was not toxic to S. aureus after 8 h of exposure. During six SCOB operation cycles, the biomass in the biofilm remained stable, and cell structure was relatively intact. SCOB significantly improved TCH degradation and reduced toxicity of the effluent.

Cobalt oxyhydroxide as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst of peroxymonosulfate activation for oil-contaminated soil remediation.

The persulfate/Fe2+ system has been proposed for the chemical oxidation for soil remediation, however, the homogeneous iron catalyst was hard to reuse which limited the further application. Cobalt oxyhydroxide (CoOOH) existed as a mineral in nature, which was environmentally friendly. Thus, in this study, CoOOH was selected as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation to remediate oil contaminated soil by chemical oxidized reaction. 88.3% of oil at the initial concentration of 78-99 mg/kg can be removed within 24 h under the conditions of 1.0 g/L CoOOH and 0.1 M PMS at room temperature. The residual oil content was approximately 11.5 mg/kg which was lower than the standard of petroleum hydrocarbons for residential land (30 mg/kg), published by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). Specifically, the PMS/CoOOH system had a relatively high apparent reaction rate constant (0.3078 h-1), which was approximately twice that of the PS/Fe2+ system (0.1601 h-1). Furthermore, multiple radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as SO4-, O2- and 1O2, were involved in the oil removal oxidation reaction. Moreover, 73% total organic carbon (TOC) had been removed after the reaction. The findings of this study suggested that the oil-contaminated soil and CoOOH could both be recycled after remediation using the PMS/CoOOH system. In summary, the results indicated that CoOOH is a promising heterogeneous catalyst, and the PMS/CoOOH system could be considered as a feasible alternative to the PS/Fe2+ system for the remediation of oil-contaminated soil.

Hydrogen coadministration slows the development of COPD-like lung disease in a cigarette smoke-induced rat model.

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive pulmonary disease caused by harmful gases or particles. Recent studies have shown that 2% hydrogen or hydrogen water is effective in the treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases. This study investigated the beneficial effects and the possible mechanisms of different hydrogen concentrations on COPD. METHODS: A rat COPD model was established through smoke exposure methods, and inhalation of different concentrations of hydrogen was used as the intervention. The daily condition of rats and the weight changes were observed; lung function and right ventricular hypertrophy index were assessed. Also, white blood cells were assessed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Pathologic changes in the lung tissue were analyzed using light microscopy and electron microscopy; cardiovascular structure and pulmonary arterial pressure changes in rats were observed using ultrasonography. Tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, IL-23, matrix metalloproteinase-12, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, caspase-3, caspase-8 protein, and mRNA levels in the lung tissue were determined using immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The results showed that hydrogen inhalation significantly reduced the number of inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, matrix metalloproteinase-12, caspase-3, and caspase-8, but increased the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 expression. Furthermore, hydrogen inhalation ameliorated lung pathology, lung function, and cardiovascular function and reduced the right ventricular hypertrophy index. Inhalation of 22% and 41.6% hydrogen showed better outcome than inhalation of 2% hydrogen. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that hydrogen inhalation slows the development of COPD-like lung disease in a cigarette smoke-induced rat model. Higher concentrations of hydrogen may represent a more effective way for the rat model.

Removal of malachite green from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation/peanut shell adsorption coupling in a batch system.

A electrocoagulation (EC)/peanut shell (PS) adsorption coupling technique was studied for the removal of malachite green (MG) in our present work. The addition of an appropriate PS dosage (5 g/L) resulted in remarkable increase in the removal efficiency of MG at lower current density and shorter operating time compared with the conventional EC process. The effect of current density, pH of MG solution, dosage of PS and initial concentration of MG were also investigated. The maximum removal efficiency of MG was 98% under optimum conditions in 5 min. And it was 23% higher than that in EC process. Furthermore, the unit energy demand (UED) and the unit electrode material demand (UEMD) were calculated and discussed. The results demonstrated that the EC/PS adsorption coupling method achieved a reduction of 94% UED and UEMD compared with EC process.

Synergistic effect and mechanisms of compound bioflocculant and AlCl3 salts on enhancing Chlorella regularis harvesting.

The high energy input required for harvesting microalgae means that commercial production of microalgal biodiesel is economically unfeasible. In this study, we investigated the flocculation efficiency and synergistic mechanisms of novel coupled flocculants, AlCl3 and compound bioflocculants (CBF), to overcome this difficulty. AlCl3 flocculation was found to be very sensitive to pH, and flocculation efficiency increased from 55 to 95 % when pH increased from 4 to 10. CBF was environmental friendly, less reliant on pH, but had a relatively low flocculation of 75 % in optimum conditions. The harvesting efficiency of Chlorella regularis can achieve a satisfactory level of 96.77 % even in neutral conditions, with a CBF dosage of 0.26 g/L, AlCl3 dosage of 0.18 g/L, and coagulant aid (CaCl2) dosage of 0.12 g/L. Interestingly, compared with the use of single flocculant, the dosage of CBF, AlCl3, and coagulant aid (CaCl2) were reduced by about 52, 49, and 66 %, respectively. Besides, the aluminum (Al) ion content of the supernatant decreased significantly to a residue of only 0.03 mg/L, therefore meeting the downstream process needs easily. Patching and bridging played key roles in coupled flocculant flocculation, in which AlCl3 mainly carried out the electrical neutralization. This work provides new insight into an efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly protocol for microalgae harvesting.

Richtmyer-Meshkov instability of a three-dimensional SF_{6}-air interface with a minimum-surface feature.

The Richmyer-Meshkov instability of a three-dimensional (3D) SF_{6}-air single-mode interface with a minimum-surface feature is investigated experimentally. The interface produced by the soap film technique is subjected to a planar shock and the evolution of the shocked interface is captured by time-resolved schlieren photography. Different from the light-heavy single-mode case, a phase inversion occurs in the shock-interface interaction and a bubblelike structure is observed behind the shocked interface, which may be ascribed to the difference in pressure perturbation at different planes. The superimposition of spikelike forward-moving jets forms a complex structure, indicating a distinctly 3D effect. Quantitatively, it is also found that the instability at the symmetry plane grows much slower than the prediction of two-dimensional linear model, but matches the extended 3D linear and nonlinear models accounting for the curvature effects. Therefore, the opposite curvatures of the 3D interface are beneficial for suppressing the growth of the instability.

Removal of Acid Black 1 and Basic Red 2 from aqueous solutions by electrocoagulation/Moringa oleifera seed adsorption coupling in a batch system.

The removal of Acid Black 1 (AB1) and Basic Red 2 (BR2) from aqueous solutions via an electrocoagulation (EC)/Moringa oleifera seeds (MOS) adsorption coupling process by using aluminum and stainless steel electrode in a batch reactor is described in this study. The influences of the operational parameters, i.e. current density, MOS dosage, and dye initial concentration, on degree of color removal were studied, and the unit energy demand, the unit electrode material demand, and the charge loading were calculated and discussed. The amounts of adsorbent and energy consumption were considered as main criteria of process evaluation, and ideal conditions were chosen. The addition of an appropriate MOS dosage (0.6 g/L for AB1 and 5 g/L for BR2) resulted in faster decolorization of dyes especially at lower current densities and was simultaneously accompanied by a significant reduction in contact time compared to the conventional simple EC process. The coupling process achieved degree of removals above 99.3% and 94% for AB1 and BR2, respectively. The EC/MOS coupling technique could be recommended to replace the conventional simple EC because of its high degree of removal, short contact time, and low energy consumption.

The Synthesis and Photocatalytic Properties of TiO2 Nanotube Array by Starch-Modified Anodic Oxidation.

In this study, the characterization and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanotube arrays prepared by anodization process with starch addition were investigated in detail. The results suggested that the optimum mass fraction of starch added in anodization process was 0.1%, with which TiO2 nanotube arrays owning good tubular structure were synthesized. The tube length and average inner diameter of nanotubes were approximately 4 µm and 30 nm, respectively. Through the characterization of TiO2 nanotube arrays by energy dispersive spectrometer, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, it was found that the as-prepared nanotubes possessed well uniformed and higher photodegradation responsive than the pure TiO2 . Moreover, it was expected that the as-prepared nanotubes exhibited good photocatalytic activity for the degradation of RhB under UV-light irradiation, which could be ascribed to their good morphology, enhanced UV-light absorption property and electron transmission ability during the photocatalytic reaction. In addition, the nanotubes were not significantly regenerated during the cycling runs experiment. Overall, this study could provide a principle method to synthesize TiO2 nanotube arrays with enhanced photocatalytic activity by anodization process with starch addition for environmental purification.

[Structure and luminescence properties of MgGa2O4 : Cr3+ with Zn substituted for Mg].

A series of red long afterglow phosphors with composition Zn(x) Mg(1-2) Ga2 O4 : Cr3+ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) were synthesized by a high temperature solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffraction studies show that the phase of the phosphors is face-centered cubic structure. Photoluminescence spectra show that the red emission of Cr3+ originated from the transition of 2E-4A2. Due to the large overlap between absorption band of Cr3+ and emission band of the host. Cr3+ could obtain the excitation energy from the host via the effective energy transfer. The afterglow decay characteristics show that the phosphor samples with different Zn contents have different afterglow time and the afterglow time also changes with the value of x. The measurement of thermoluminescence reveals that the trap depth of the phosphor samples with different Zn contents is different. The samples with deeper traps have longer afterglow time.

[Structure and luminescence properties of Ga2O3 : Cr3+ by Al doping].

The Al doping gallate phosphor (Ga(1-x)Al(x))2O3 : Cr3+ (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) was synthesized by a high temperature solid-state reaction method. The X-ray diffractions show that the phase of the phosphors remains to be Ga2 O3 structure with increase in the contents of Al3+ ion. Beside, the fact that the X-ray diffraction peak shifts towards big angles with increasing Al3+ ions content shows that Al3+ ions entered the Ga2 O3 lattice. The peaks of the excitation spectra located at 258, 300, 410 and 550 nm are attributed to the band to band transition of the matrix, charge transfer band transition, and 4A2 --> 4T1 and 4A2 --> 4T2 transition of Cr3+ ions, respectively. Those excitation spectrum peak positions show different degrees of blue shift with the increase in the Al3+ ions content. The blue shift of the first two peaks are due to the band gap energy of substrate and the electronegativity between Cr3+ ions and ligands increasing, respectively. The blue shift of the energy level transition of Cr3+ ion is attributed to crystal field strength increasing. The Cr3+ ion luminescence changes from a broadband emission to a narrow-band emission with Al3+ doping, because the emission of Cr3+ ion changed from 4 T2 --> 4A2 to 2E --> 4A2 transition with the crystal field change after Al3+ ions doping. The Al3+ ions doping improved the long afterglow luminescence properties of samples, and the sample showed a longer visible near infrared when Al3+ ions content reaches 0.5. The thermoluminescence curve shows the sample with suitable trap energy level, and this is also the cause of the long afterglow luminescence materials.

Transcriptional responses to drought stress in root and leaf of chickpea seedling.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse crop grown mainly in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Due to its taxonomic proximity with the model legume Medicago truncatula and its ability to grow in arid soil, chickpea has its unique advantage to understand how plant responds to drought stress. In this study, an oligonucleotide microarray was used for analyzing the transcriptomic profiles of unigenes in leaf and root of chickpea seedling under drought stress, respectively. Microarray data showed that 4,815 differentially expressed unigenes were either ≥ 2-fold up- or ≤ 0.5-fold down-regulated in at least one of the five time points during drought stress. 2,623 and 3,969 unigenes were time-dependent differentially expressed in root and leaf, respectively. 110 pathways in two tissues were found to respond to drought stress. Compared to control, 88 and 52 unigenes were expressed only in drought-stressed root and leaf, respectively, while nine unigenes were expressed in both the tissues. 1,922 function-unknown unigenes were found to be remarkably regulated by drought stress. The expression profiles of these time-dependent differentially expressed unigenes were useful in furthering our knowledge of molecular mechanism of plant in response to drought stress.

Identification and characterization of a LEA family gene CarLEA4 from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

Late-embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins have been reported to be closely correlated with the acquisition of desiccation tolerance during seed development and response of plant to drought, salinity, and freezing, etc. In this study, a LEA gene, CarLEA4 (GenBank accession no. GU247511), was isolated from chickpea based on a cDNA library constructed with chickpea seedling leaves treated by polyethylene glycol (PEG). CarLEA4 contained two exons and one intron within genomic DNA sequence and encoded a putative polypeptide of 152 amino acids. CarLEA4 had a conserved pfam domain, and showed high similarity to the group 4 LEA proteins in secondary structure. It was localized in the nucleus. The transcripts of CarLEA4 were detected in many chickpea organs including seedling leaves, stems, roots, flowers, young pods, and young seeds. CarLEA4 was inhibited by leaf age and showed expression changes in expression during seed development, pod development and germination. Furthermore, the expression of CarLEA4 was strongly induced by drought, salt, heat, cold, ABA, IAA, GA(3) and MeJA. Our results suggest that CarLEA4 encodes a protein of LEA group 4 and may be involved in various plant developmental processes and abiotic stress responses.

Molecular cloning and characterization of an F-box family gene CarF-box1 from chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

F-box protein family has been found to play important roles in plant development and abiotic stress responses via the ubiquitin pathway. In this study, an F-box gene CarF-box1 (for Cicer arietinum F-box gene 1, Genbank accession no. GU247510) was isolated based on a cDNA library constructed with chickpea seedling leaves treated by polyethylene glycol. CarF-box1 encoded a putative protein with 345 amino acids and contained no intron within genomic DNA sequence. CarF-box1 is a KFB-type F-box protein, having a conserved F-box domain in the N-terminus and a Kelch repeat domain in the C-terminus. CarF-box1 was localized in the nucleus. CarF-box1 exhibited organ-specific expression and showed different expression patterns during seed development and germination processes, especially strongly expressed in the blooming flowers. In the leaves, CarF-box1 could be significantly induced by drought stress and slightly induced by IAA treatment, while in the roots, CarF-box1 could be strongly induced by drought, salinity and methyl jasmonate stresses. Our results suggest that CarF-box1 encodes an F-box protein and may be involved in various plant developmental processes and abiotic stress responses.

Comparative analysis of ESTs in response to drought stress in chickpea (C. arietinum L.).

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse crop grown mainly in the arid and semi-arid regions. To identify the water-stress-induced genes, two non-normalized cDNA libraries were constructed from the seedling leaves of a drought-tolerant chickpea cultivar under PEG-treated and -nontreated conditions. About 2500 clones from each library were selected randomly for sequencing analysis. Based on IDEG6 online software analysis, 92 genes were differentially expressed, and these genes were involved in diverse biological progresses, such as metabolism, transcription, signal transduction, protein synthesis and others. Most of the up-regulated genes were related to drought tolerance, and the down-regulated genes were mainly involved in photosynthesis. The differential expression patterns of five functional unigenes were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). The results will help in understanding the molecular basis of drought tolerance in chickpea.