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. 2022 Sep 26;22(1):460.
doi: 10.1186/s12870-022-03848-7.

Comparative physiological and coexpression network analyses reveal the potential drought tolerance mechanism of peanut

Jingyao Ren  1 , Pei Guo  1 , He Zhang  1 , Xiaolong Shi  1 , Xin Ai  1 , Jing Wang  1 , Chunji Jiang  1 , Xinhua Zhao  1 , Xibo Liu  2 , Haiqiu Yu  3
Affiliations

Comparative physiological and coexpression network analyses reveal the potential drought tolerance mechanism of peanut

Jingyao Ren et al. BMC Plant Biol. .

Abstract

Background: Drought stress has negative effects on plant growth and productivity. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of physiological responses and gene expression was performed. The responses and expressions were compared between drought-tolerant (DT) and drought-sensitive (DS) peanut varieties to investigate the regulatory mechanisms and hub genes involved in the impact of drought stress on culture.

Results: The drought-tolerant variety had robust antioxidative capacities with higher total antioxidant capacity and flavonoid contents, and it enhanced osmotic adjustment substance accumulation to adapt to drought conditions. KEGG analysis of differentially expressed genes demonstrated that photosynthesis was strongly affected by drought stress, especially in the drought-sensitive variety, which was consistent with the more severe suppression of photosynthesis. The hub genes in the key modules related to the drought response, including genes encoding protein kinase, E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, potassium transporter, pentatricopeptide repeat-containing protein, and aspartic proteinase, were identified through a comprehensive combined analysis of genes and physiological traits using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. There were notably differentially expressed genes between the two varieties, suggesting the positive roles of these genes in peanut drought tolerance.

Conclusion: A comprehensive analysis of physiological traits and relevant genes was conducted on peanuts with different drought tolerances. The findings revealed diverse drought-response mechanisms and identified candidate genes for further research.

Keywords: Drought stress; O2 •− /TBARs accumulation; Peanut; Transcriptional regulation; WGCNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
O2•− and TBARs accumulation in peanut leaves under drought stress. A NBT staining in peanut leaves; B O2•− accumulation in peanuts caused by drought stress. C TBARs contents in peanuts under drought stress. Different letters indicate significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between different points for each genotype, * (p < 0.05) and ** (p < 0.01) indicate significant differences between two genotypes at the same treatment point
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Physiological responses in DT and DS under drought stress. A Total antioxidant capacity; B Flavonoid contents; C Soluble sugar contents; D Proline contents. Different letters indicate significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between different points for each genotype, * (p < 0.05) and ** (p < 0.01) indicate significant differences between two genotypes at the same treatment point
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Photosynthetic characteristics in DS and DT under drought stress. The letters A-D represent Pn, Gs, Ci and Ls, respectively. Different letters indicate significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between different points for each genotype, * (p < 0.05) and ** (p < 0.01) indicate significant differences between two genotypes at the same treatment point
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Change in chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in DS and DT under drought stress. Different letters indicate significant differences at the p < 0.05 level between different points for each genotype, * (p < 0.05) and ** (p < 0.01) indicate significant differences between two genotypes at the same treatment point
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Comparative analysis of differentially expressed genes under drought stress. A Venn diagram of DEGs between DS and DT. B The expression levels of DS and DT under drought stress; C KEGG enrichment of DEGs in the two varieties
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
WGCNA of effectively expressed genes. A Scale-free topology model and mean connectivity; B Correlation heatmap of gene coexpression networks; C Hierarchical cluster tree showing coexpression modules identified by WGCNA
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Module-traitstrait correlations and corresponding P values
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Analysis of key modules identified in peanut under drought stress. A GO enrichment of darkred, darkturquoise, and green modules. B The coexpression network and hub gene identification. The size of the nodes represents the connection degrees in the network
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
The possible regulatory network of peanut in response to drought stress. E3: E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase, LRR-RLKs: LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase, APA: aspartic proteinase, KT: potassium transporter, PPR: pentatricopeptide repeat-containing protein
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