Water Deficit Transcriptomic Responses Differ in the Invasive Tamarix chinensis and T. ramosissima Established in the Southern and Northern United States

Authors

Padmapriya Swaminathan, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Michelle K. Ohrtman, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Abigail Carinder, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Anup Deuja, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Cankun Wang, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
John Gaskin, USDA, Agricultural Research ServiceFollow
Anne Fennell, South Dakota State UniversityFollow
Sharon Clay, South Dakota State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2020

Abstract

Tamarix spp. (saltcedar) were introduced from Asia to the southern United States as windbreak and ornamental plants and have spread into natural areas. This study determined differential gene expression responses to water deficit (WD) in seedlings of T. chinensis and T. ramosissima from established invasive stands in New Mexico and Montana, respectively. A reference de novo transcriptome was developed using RNA sequences from WD and well-watered samples. Blast2GO analysis of the resulting 271,872 transcripts yielded 89,389 homologs. The reference Tamarix (Tamaricaceae, Carophyllales order) transcriptome showed homology with 14,247 predicted genes of the Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris (Amaranthaceae, Carophyllales order) genome assembly. T. ramosissima took longer to show water stress symptoms than T. chinensis. There were 2068 and 669 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in T. chinensis and T. ramosissima, respectively; 332 were DEG in common between the two species. Network analysis showed large biological process networks of similar gene content for each of the species under water deficit. Two distinct molecular function gene ontology networks (binding and transcription factor-related) encompassing multiple up-regulated transcription factors (MYB, NAC, and WRKY) and a cellular components network containing many down-regulated photosynthesis-related genes were identified in T. chinensis, in contrast to one small molecular function network in T. ramosissima.

Publication Title

Plants

Volume

9

Issue

1

First Page

86

Format

application/pdf

DOI of Published Version

10.3390/plants9010086

Publisher

MDPI

Rights

© 2020 the Author(s)

Recommended Citation

Swaminathan, P.; Ohrtman, M.; Carinder, A.; Deuja, A.; Wang, C.; Gaskin, J.; Fennell, A.; Clay, S. Water Deficit Transcriptomic Responses Differ in the Invasive Tamarix chinensis and T. ramosissima Established in the Southern and Northern United States. Plants 2020, 9, 86.

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