| Description |
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the three most important food crops worldwide, while potato is strongly affected by drought stress, which can seriously affect tuber quality and yield. The precise molecular mechanisms of drought stress response in potato are not very well understood due to its autotetraploid properties. The diploid potato genotype P3-198 was verified to be highly resistant to drought stress without growth retardation. Here, a time-course experiment was performed to systematically identify drought resistance response genes in P3-198 using RNA-sequencing. A total of 1665 differentially expression genes (DEGs) were specifically identified under PEG stress, and based on Gene Ontology and KEGG analysis, the categories transcription factor activity, protein kinase activity, and plant hormone signal transduction process were significantly enriched in DEGs analysis. Annotation revealed that these DEGs mainly encoded transcription factors and protein kinases, and also proteins related to redox regulation, carbohydrate metabolism, and proteins important for osmotic adjustment. In particular, genes encoding abscisic acid (ABA)-dependent signaling molecules were significantly differentially expressed, including zeaxanthin epoxidase, receptor protein pyrabactin resistance-like 4, AREB transcription factor, protein phosphatase 2C, and sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase 2, which revealed the important roles of the ABA-dependent signaling pathway in the early response of potato genotype P3-198 to drought stress. Quantitative real-time PCR experimental verification confirmed the induced expression of DEGs in the drought resistance signaling pathway, such as WRKY, receptor kinase, NADPH, and dehydrin protein genes. Our results provide valuable information for understanding potato drought resistance mechanisms, and also enrich the gene resources available for drought resistance potato breeding. |
