تجزیه ترانسکریپتوم نخود بومی ایرانی در واکنش به تنش خشکی

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important legumes for human food and plays major roles in soil productivity. This crop is subjected to terminal drought in arid and semi-arid regions such as Iran. Identification of drought-induced genes is necessary not only for understanding molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance, but also is important to develop tolerant crops. In present study, transcriptome profiling of Iranian local kabuli chickpea (Bivanij cultivar) was investigated under drought stress at early flowering stage at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Illumina HiSeq2500 was applied for sequencing the root and the shoot samples under control and stress conditions. A total of 891 and 507 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in response to the drought stress in the root and the shoot, respectively. Likewise, 760, 376 and 131 DEGs were detected specifically in the root, the shoot and common in both organs, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed several GO terms associated with stress, including response to stimulus and signaling among the DEGs in response to the drought stress. Moreover, major metabolic pathways such as ABA and proline biosynthesis, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and phenylpropanoids, carbohydrates and energy metabolisms were identified by KEGG pathway analysis. These findings showed that more drought-related genes and pathways were induced in the root compared to the shoot. Several DEGs particularly those which were functioned as transcription factors (TFs) related to drought responsive genes, can be used for future researches and improving drought tolerant cultivars.