Transcriptome characterization of candidate genes for heat tolerance in perennial ryegrass after exogenous methyl Jasmonate application.

Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) plays a role in improving plant stress tolerance. The molecular mechanisms associated with heat tolerance mediated by MeJA are not fully understood in perennial grass species. The study was designed to explore transcriptomic mechanisms underlying heat tolerance by exogenous MeJA in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) using RNA-seq. Transcriptomic profiling was performed on plants under normal temperature (CK), high temperature for 12 h (H), MeJA pretreatment (T), MeJA pretreatment + H (T-H), respectively. The analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) showed that H resulted in the most DEGs and T had the least, compared with CK. Among them, the DEGs related to the response to oxygen-containing compound was higher in CKvsH, while many genes related to photosynthetic system were down-regulated. The DEGs related to plastid components was higher in CKvsT. GO and KEGG analysis showed that exogenous application of MeJA enriched photosynthesis related pathways under heat stress. Exogenous MeJA significantly increased the expression of genes involved in chlorophyll (Chl) biosynthesis and antioxidant metabolism, and decreased the expression of Chl degradation genes, as well as the expression of heat shock transcription factor - heat shock protein (HSF-HSP) network under heat stress. The results indicated that exogenous application of MeJA improved the heat tolerance of perennial ryegrass by mediating expression of genes in different pathways, such as Chl biosynthesis and degradation, antioxidant enzyme system, HSF-HSP network and JAs biosynthesis.

Transcriptome characterization of candidate genes related to chromium uptake, transport and accumulation in Miscanthus sinensis.

Miscanthus sinensis is a C4 perennial grass species that is widely used as forage, ornamental grass and bioenergy crop due to its broad adaption and great biological traits. Recent studies indicated that M. sinensis could also grow in marginal lands which were contaminated with heavy metals, and exhibited important ecological restoration potential. In this study, transcriptome characterization of candidate genes related to chromium (Cr) uptake, transport and accumulation in M. sinensis were employed to investigate the molecular mechanism of plant tolerance to heavy metal stress. The result showed that following treatment of 200 mg/L of Cr, plant roots could accumulate most Cr and localize mainly in cell walls and soluble fractions, whereas Cr in stems and leaves was primarily in soluble fractions. A total of 83,645 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained after the treatment. Many genes involved in heavy metal transport, metal ion chelation and photosynthesis were found to be Cr-induced DEGs. Co-expression and weighted correlation network analysis revealed that Glutathion metabolism and ABC transporters pathways play an important role in Cr tolerance of M. sinensis. A hypothesis schematic diagram for the Cr uptake, transport and accumulation of M. sinensis cells were suggested, which could provide a molecular and genetic basis for future candidate genes validation and breeding of such crops.

Genome-wide investigation of the NAC transcript factor family in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and expression analysis under various abiotic stressor.

NAC is one of the largest family of plant-specific transcription factors, and it plays important roles in plant development and stress responses. The study identified 72 LpNACs genes from the perennial ryegrass genome database. Gene length, MW and pI of NAC family transcription factors varied, but the gene structure and motifs were relatively conserved in bioinformatics analysis. Phylogenetic analyses of perennial ryegrass, rice and Arabidopsis were performed to study the evolutionary and functional relationships in various species. The expression of LpNAC genes that respond to various abiotic stresses including high salinity, ABA, high temperature, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and heavy metal was comprehensively analyzed. The present study provides a basic understanding of the NAC gene family in perennial ryegrass for further abiotic stress studies and improvements in breeding.

Genome-Wide Identification of Hsp90 Gene Family in Perennial Ryegrass and Expression Analysis under Various Abiotic Stresses.

The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a protein produced in plants in response to stress. This study identified and analyzed Hsp90 gene family members in the perennial ryegrass genome. From the results, eight Hsp90 proteins were obtained and their MW, pI and number of amino acid bases varied. The amino acid bases ranged from 526 to 862. The CDS also ranged from 20 (LpHsp0-4) to 1 (LpHsp90-5). The least number of CDS regions was 1 (LpHsp90-5) with 528 kb amino acids, while the highest was 20 (LpHsp90-4) with 862 kb amino acids, which showed diversity among the protein sequences. The phylogenetic tree revealed that Hsp90 genes in Lolium perenne, Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa and Brachypodium distachyon could be divided into two groups with five paralogous gene pairs and three orthologous gene pairs. The expression analysis after perennial ryegrass was subjected to heat, salt, chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), polyethylene glycol (PEG) and abscisic acid (ABA) revealed that LpHsp90 genes were generally highly expressed under heat stress, but only two LpHsp90 proteins were expressed under Cr stresses. Additionally, the expression of the LpHsp90 proteins differed at each time point in all treatments. This study provides the basis for an understanding of the functions of LpHsp90 proteins in abiotic stress studies and in plant breeding.