Transcriptome and Metabolome Analyses Reveal Molecular Responses of Two Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Cultivars to Cold Stress

xiang li ^1,2,3 Zhenzhen Zheng ^1,2 Yun Zhou ^1,2,3 Shenglong Yang ^1,2,3 Wang Su ^1,2,3 Heng Guo ^1,2,3 Guangji Ye ^1,2,3* Wang Jian ^1,2,3*

• ¹ 青海大学, Qinghai, China
• ² Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Qinghai University, xining, China
• ³ Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Potato Breeding, Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center of Potato in Northwest Region, Qinghai University,, Xining, Qinghai Province, China

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), as an important food crop on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, is prone to low temperature and frost damage during the seedling stage, causing economic losses for farmers. In this study, metabolome and transcriptome analyses were conducted on the leaves of Atlantic (coldresistant) and KY140 (cold-sensitive) potato varieties. After cold stress(CS), 298 and 195 differentially accumulated metabolites(DAMs) were identified in Atlantic and KY140, respectively, with 124 common DAMs, including lipids, flavonoids, alkaloids, organic acids, amino acids and their derivatives, nucleotides and their derivatives, lignans and coumarins, phenolic acids, and terpenoids. A total of 6928 and 2428 differentially expressed genes(DEGs) were identified in Atlantic and KY140, respectively, with 1131 common DEGs. Using the DAMs and DEGs, we plotted regulatory pathway maps of the "flavonoid-related metabolism," "lipid metabolism," and "amino acid metabolism" related to cold resistance in potato. Cinnamic acid, caffeic acid, naringenin, and aminobutyric acid(GABA) levels increased in Atlantic_vs_CS-Atlantic and KY140_vs_CS-KY140, suggesting that they might participate in the regulation of potato resistance to CS. The genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), represented by Soltu.Atl.09_2G005110 and Soltu.Atl.11_3G000340, respectively, were upregulated in both Atlantic_vs_CS-Atlantic and KY140_vs_CS-KY140, suggesting their involvement in the regulation of cold resistance in potato. Our results provided novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying cold resistance in potato.