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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (4): 104-123.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2024185

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Differentially expressed genes and related pathways in root systems of Astragalus cicer under NaCl stress

Ting MA(), Fen-qi CHEN, Yong WANG, Xue HA, Ya-jun LI, Hui-ling MA()   

  1. Pratacultural College,Gansu Agricultural University,Key Laboratory for Grassland Ecosystem of Ministry of Education,Pratacultural Engineering Laboratory of Gansu Province,Sino-U. S. Centers for Grazing Land Ecosystem Sustainability,Lanzhou 730070,China
  • Received:2024-05-20 Revised:2024-06-25 Online:2025-04-20 Published:2025-02-19
  • Contact: Hui-ling MA

Abstract:

Soil salinization seriously affects the growth and yield of plants, and limits the development of agricultural and ecological economies. Astragalus cicer is a versatile ecological grass species, an efficient green manure crop, and a superior protein forage. Exploring the molecular mechanism of its adaptability to NaCl stress is of great significance for enhancing its salt tolerance and advancing its cultivation in saline soil. To investigate its responses to NaCl stress, transcriptomic analyses were performed on the roots of A. cicer at different time points (0, 12, 48, and 72 hours) during an NaCl treatment. The results showed that, compared with 0 hour, after 12, 48, and 72 hours of NaCl stress, there were, respectively, 46051, 45653, and 42869 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the roots of A. cicer, including 8027, 10053, and 11042 up-regulated DEGs and 38024, 35600, and 31827 down-regulated DEGs, respectively, at the three time points. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses showed that the pathways responding to NaCl stress in the roots of A. cicer were oxidoreductase activity, flavonoid biosynthesis, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. A trend analysis showed that the DEGs in phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway were still up-regulated or had returned to their baseline levels at 48 hours of NaCl treatment. Genes encoding C2H2, C3H, NAC, MYB, WRKY, and bZIP transcription factors were expressed at different time points during the NaCl treatment, suggesting that these transcription factors are closely related to salt tolerance in A. cicer. The results of this study provide basic data for further exploration of the mechanism of salt tolerance of A. cicer, and also provide theoretical support for breeding to improve salt tolerance.

Key words: Astragalus cicer, roots, transcriptome, NaCl stress, differentially expressed genes, metabolic pathway