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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Genet.
Sec. Genomics of Plants and the Phytoecosystem
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1483113

An integrated transcriptome and physiological analysis of nitrogen use efficiency in rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. Indica) under drought stress

Provisionally accepted
Yu Wang Yu Wang 1,2Yufan Zhang Yufan Zhang 1Han Qiao Han Qiao 1Yutong Zheng Yutong Zheng 1Xin Hou Xin Hou 1*Liangsheng Shi Liangsheng Shi 1*
  • 1 Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
  • 2 Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nitrogen is a critical nutrient vital for crop growth. However, our current understanding of nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) under drought remains inadequate. To delve into the molecular mechanisms underlying NUE under drought, a transcriptome and physiological co-expression analysis was performed in rice, which is particularly sensitive to drought. We conducted a pot experiment using rice grown under normal irrigation, mild drought stress, and severe drought stress. Compared to the normal treatment, drought stress led to a significant reduction in NUE across growth stages, with decreases ranging from 2.18% to 31.67%. Totals of 4,424 and 2,452 genes were identified as NUE-related DEGs that showed differential expressions (DEGs) and significantly correlated with NUE (NUE-related) under drought in the vegetative and reproductive stages, respectively. Interestingly, five genes involved in nitrogen metabolism were found in the overlapped genes of these two sets. Furthermore, the two sets of NUE-related DEGs were enriched in glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, as well as carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms. Several genes in these two pathways were identified as hub genes in the two sets of NUE-related DEGs. This study offers new insights into the molecular mechanism of rice NUE under drought in agricultural practices and provides potential genes for breeding drought-resistant crops with high NUE.

    Keywords: Pot experiment, nitrogen use efficiency, Drought stress, Transcriptome, Physiology

    Received: 19 Aug 2024; Accepted: 21 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Zhang, Qiao, Zheng, Hou and Shi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xin Hou, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
    Liangsheng Shi, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.