Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress
Lettuce is a crop particularly vulnerable to drought. A transcriptomic study in the variety ‘Romired’ and the wild relative Lactuca homblei was conducted to understand the increase in anthocyanins (only significant in L. homblei) in response to drought previously observed. RNA-seq revealed more diff...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1494339/full |
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| author | Inés Medina-Lozano Inés Medina-Lozano Jérôme Grimplet Jérôme Grimplet Aurora Díaz Aurora Díaz |
| author_facet | Inés Medina-Lozano Inés Medina-Lozano Jérôme Grimplet Jérôme Grimplet Aurora Díaz Aurora Díaz |
| author_sort | Inés Medina-Lozano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lettuce is a crop particularly vulnerable to drought. A transcriptomic study in the variety ‘Romired’ and the wild relative Lactuca homblei was conducted to understand the increase in anthocyanins (only significant in L. homblei) in response to drought previously observed. RNA-seq revealed more differentially expressed genes (DEGs), especially upregulated, in the wild species, in which the most abundant and significant GO terms were involved in regulatory processes (including response to water). Anthocyanin synthesis was triggered in L. homblei in response to drought, with 17 genes activated out of the 36 mapped in the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway compared to 7 in ‘Romired’. Nineteen candidate DEGs with the strongest change in expression and correlation with both anthocyanin content and drought were selected and validated by qPCR, all being differentially expressed only in the wild species with the two techniques. Their functions were related to anthocyanins and/or stress response and they harboured 404 and 11 polymorphisms in the wild and cultivated species, respectively. Some wild variants had high or moderate predicted impacts on the respective protein function: a transcription factor that responds to abiotic stresses, a heat shock protein involved in stomatal closure, and a phospholipase participating in anthocyanin accumulation under abiotic stress. These genetic variants could explain the differences in the gene expression patterns between the wild (significantly up/downregulated) and the cultivated (no significant changes) species. The diversity of this crop wild relative for anthocyanin-related genes involved in the response to drought could be exploited to improve lettuce resilience against some adverse climate effects. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8a381c2bfcad449b84768d212940debe |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-8a381c2bfcad449b84768d212940debe2025-01-22T11:52:27ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2025-01-011510.3389/fpls.2024.14943391494339Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stressInés Medina-Lozano0Inés Medina-Lozano1Jérôme Grimplet2Jérôme Grimplet3Aurora Díaz4Aurora Díaz5Department of Plant Sciences, Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA), Zaragoza, SpainAgriFood Institute of Aragon – IA2 (CITA-University of Zaragoza), Zaragoza, SpainDepartment of Plant Sciences, Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA), Zaragoza, SpainAgriFood Institute of Aragon – IA2 (CITA-University of Zaragoza), Zaragoza, SpainDepartment of Plant Sciences, Agrifood Research and Technology Centre of Aragon (CITA), Zaragoza, SpainAgriFood Institute of Aragon – IA2 (CITA-University of Zaragoza), Zaragoza, SpainLettuce is a crop particularly vulnerable to drought. A transcriptomic study in the variety ‘Romired’ and the wild relative Lactuca homblei was conducted to understand the increase in anthocyanins (only significant in L. homblei) in response to drought previously observed. RNA-seq revealed more differentially expressed genes (DEGs), especially upregulated, in the wild species, in which the most abundant and significant GO terms were involved in regulatory processes (including response to water). Anthocyanin synthesis was triggered in L. homblei in response to drought, with 17 genes activated out of the 36 mapped in the phenylpropanoid-flavonoid pathway compared to 7 in ‘Romired’. Nineteen candidate DEGs with the strongest change in expression and correlation with both anthocyanin content and drought were selected and validated by qPCR, all being differentially expressed only in the wild species with the two techniques. Their functions were related to anthocyanins and/or stress response and they harboured 404 and 11 polymorphisms in the wild and cultivated species, respectively. Some wild variants had high or moderate predicted impacts on the respective protein function: a transcription factor that responds to abiotic stresses, a heat shock protein involved in stomatal closure, and a phospholipase participating in anthocyanin accumulation under abiotic stress. These genetic variants could explain the differences in the gene expression patterns between the wild (significantly up/downregulated) and the cultivated (no significant changes) species. The diversity of this crop wild relative for anthocyanin-related genes involved in the response to drought could be exploited to improve lettuce resilience against some adverse climate effects.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1494339/fullabiotic stressantioxidantscrop wild relativesdifferentially expressed genesLactuca sativa L.real-time qPCR |
| spellingShingle | Inés Medina-Lozano Inés Medina-Lozano Jérôme Grimplet Jérôme Grimplet Aurora Díaz Aurora Díaz Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress Frontiers in Plant Science abiotic stress antioxidants crop wild relatives differentially expressed genes Lactuca sativa L. real-time qPCR |
| title | Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| title_full | Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| title_fullStr | Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| title_short | Harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin-related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| title_sort | harnessing the diversity of a lettuce wild relative to identify anthocyanin related genes transcriptionally responsive to drought stress |
| topic | abiotic stress antioxidants crop wild relatives differentially expressed genes Lactuca sativa L. real-time qPCR |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1494339/full |
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