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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Nutrition
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1488281
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Responses to Phosphorus and Nitrogen Starvation: Genetic Insights and Agricultural Innovations View all articles

Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses provide new insights into cassava in response to nitrogen deficiency

Provisionally accepted
Yu Wang Yu Wang 1,2Jing Chu Jing Chu 1,2*Haoyang Zhang Haoyang Zhang 1*Hao Ju Hao Ju 1*Qing Xie Qing Xie 1*Xingyu Jiang Xingyu Jiang 1,2*
  • 1 College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan Province, China

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

    Nitrogen deficiency is a key constraint on crop yield. Cassava, the world's sixth-largest food crop and a crucial source of feed and industrial materials, can thrive in marginal soils, yet its yield is still significantly affected by limited nitrogen availability. Investigating cassava's response mechanisms to nitrogen scarcity is therefore essential for advancing molecular breeding and identifying nitrogenefficient varieties. This research undertook a comprehensive analysis of cassava seedlings' physiological, gene expression, and metabolite responses under low nitrogen stress. Findings revealed that nitrogen deficiency drastically suppressed seedling growth, significantly reduced nitrate and ammonium transport to aerial parts, and led to a marked increase in carbohydrate, reactive oxygen species, and ammonium ion levels in the leaves. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses further demonstrated notable alterations in genes and metabolites linked to carbon and nitrogen metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, and the purine metabolic pathway. Additionally, several transcription factors associated with cassava flavonoid biosynthesis under nitrogen-deficient conditions were identified. Overall, this study offers fresh insights and valuable genetic resources for unraveling cassava's adaptive mechanisms to nitrogen deprivation.

    Keywords: Transcriptomics, Metabolomics, nitrogen deficiency, Flavonoid biosynthesis, cassava

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 29 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Chu, Zhang, Ju, Xie and Jiang. 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:
    Jing Chu, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China
    Haoyang Zhang, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China
    Hao Ju, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China
    Qing Xie, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China
    Xingyu Jiang, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, China

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