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Transcriptome analysis and identification of the low potassium stress-responsive gene SiSnRK2.6 in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.)

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Abstract

Key message

The transcriptome is beneficial for dissecting the mechanism of millet in response to low potassium stress and SiSnRK2.6 was identified as a potential target for improving low potassium stress tolerance.

Abstract

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.), which originated in China, has high nutrient utilization character. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanism of its tolerance to low potassium stress is largely unclear. In this research, the low potassium tolerant variety “Yugu28” was screened out by low potassium stress treatment, and the transcriptome of “Yugu28” under low potassium stress was comprehensively analyzed. A total of 4254 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 1618 up-regulated and 2636 down-regulated genes, respectively. In addition, there were 302 transcription factor (TF) genes in the DEGs and MYB TFs accounted for the highest proportion, which was 14.9%. After functional analysis of all DEGs, a total of 7 genes involved in potassium transport and potassium ion channels and 50 genes corresponding to hormones were screened. The expression levels of randomly selected 17 DEGs were verified by qRT-PCR and the results coincided well with the RNA-seq analysis, indicating the reliability of our transcriptome data. Moreover, one of the ABA signaling pathway genes, SiSnRK2.6, was identified and selected for further functional verification. Compared with the wild type, transgenic rice with ecotopic expression of SiSnRK2.6 showed remarkably increased root length and root number, indicating that overexpression of SiSnRK2.6 can enhance the resistance of transgenic plants to low potassium stress.

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Data availability

All data supporting the conclusions of this article are provided within the article and its Supplementary Information. The transcriptome data used in the current study are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra) (accession number: PRJNA1052939).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Najeeb Ullah Khan from China Agriculture University for improving the article’s English.

Funding

This research was supported by the PhD Research Startup Foundation of Henan University of Science and Technology (13480103), the Funding of Joint Research on Agricultural Variety Improvement of Henan Province (No.2022010401), and the Funding of Central Guides Local Science and Technology Development of Henan Province (Z20221341070).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471000, China

    Xiaoqian Ma, Zanping Han & Bing Guo

  2. Cereal Crops Institute, Henan Academy of Agriculture Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450002, China

    Shutao Dai, Na Qin & Junxia Li

  3. College of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Najeeb Ullah Khan

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  1. Xiaoqian Ma
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  2. Najeeb Ullah Khan
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  6. Bing Guo
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  7. Junxia Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. XM and JL designed the research. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by XM, SD and NQ. ZH and BG provided technical assistance to XM. The first draft of the manuscript was written by XM, NUK conceived and supervised the writing and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Junxia Li.

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Communicated by Hai-Chun Jing.

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Ma, X., Khan, N.U., Dai, S. et al. Transcriptome analysis and identification of the low potassium stress-responsive gene SiSnRK2.6 in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.). Theor Appl Genet 137, 22 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04532-6

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