Differential gene expression response to warming of typical plants in the Horqin Sandy Land

doi:10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00217

Journal of Desert Research ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 343-356.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00217

Differential gene expression response to warming of typical plants in the Horqin Sandy Land

Shangbin Shi¹^,²^,³(), Wenda Huang¹^,²(), Hailun Yu¹, Jing Feng¹^,², Yuanzhong Zhu¹^,²^,³

^1.State Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands /, ?Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources，?Chinese Academy of Sciences，?Lanzhou 730000，?China
^2.Naiman Desertification Research Station, ?Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources，?Chinese Academy of Sciences，?Lanzhou 730000，?China
^3.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences，Beijing 100049，China

Received:2025-05-06 Revised:2025-07-08 Online:2025-07-20 Published:2025-08-18
Contact: Wenda Huang

Abstract

Abstract:

This study focused on representative trees， shrubs and herbsin Horqin Sandy Land （Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa， Populus simonii， Artemisia halodendron， Caragana microphylla， Setaria viridis， and Artemisia scoparia）. Using transcriptome sequencing via the Illumina platform， combined with differential gene expression analysis， weighted gene co-expression network analysis （WGCNA）， and functional enrichment methods， we systematically analyzed the molecular response mechanism of different plant life forms to elevated temperature stress. Key findings include：（1） The MYB， AP2/ERF， and GRAS transcription factor families dominate the regulation of heat stress response signals in six tested plants. MYB genes exhibited high connectivity in co-expression networks， potentially coordinating antioxidant and stress response genes to combat high temperatures. （2） Arbor species （e.g.， Populus simonii） showed minimal gene expression changes， relying on structural adaptations （e.g.， cuticle thickening） to mitigate heat stress， while shrubs and herbs upregulated photosynthetic pathway genes （e.g.， PetA） and activated jasmonic acid signaling to adapt to environmental fluctuations. （3） The photosystem II core protein PsbA was upregulated in all species， yet there are differences in the motif arrangement and expression magnitude. The unique PsbA structure in Setaria viridis is correlate with its C₄ plant photosynthetic efficiency. （4） Jasmonic acid signaling was prominently activated in herbs but negatively regulated in arbor species， suggesting life-form-driven divergence in hormonal response strategies.

Key words: Horqin Sandy Land, transcriptome, gene expression, warming

CLC Number:

Shangbin Shi, Wenda Huang, Hailun Yu, Jing Feng, Yuanzhong Zhu. Differential gene expression response to warming of typical plants in the Horqin Sandy Land[J]. Journal of Desert Research, 2025, 45(4): 343-356.

Figures/Tables 10

Table 1 Quality of transcriptome sequencing results

测序与组装		沙地榆	小叶杨	差不嘎蒿	小叶锦鸡儿	狗尾草	猪毛蒿
测序	原始读取序列	321 136 994	324 719 284	310 110 492	261 751 624	358 693 606	305 014 366
测序	纯净读取序列	318 488 970	323 126 762	308 115 426	259 855 420	354 927 030	303 108 758
组装	总拼接序列数	136 627 781	138 875 218	126 720 960	108 394 090	154 755 008	117 345 863
	Transcript数	115 841	120 677	212 077	208 434	145 595	274 136
	Unigene数	66 063	68 736	111 514	125 792	103 087	141 709
	GC比例/%	40.43	40.08	39.33	40.37	47.97	39.04
	N50长度/bp	1 575	1 763	1 051	1 096	1 369	1 049
	平均长度/bp	820.29	907.92	670.02	715.59	754.94	726.26

Fig.1 BUSCO scores of sequencing and splicing of representative plants in Horqin Sandy Land

Fig.2 PCA of gene expression in representative plants in Horqin Sandy Land

Fig.3 WGCNA of transcription factor genes （The heat map shows that modules are related to experimental control， and the network is the coexpression network of module genes with the highest correlation）

Fig.4 Number of differentially expressed genes and volcanos

Fig.5 GO enrichment termsof up-regulated differentially expressed genes

Fig.6 GO enrichment terms of down-regulated differentially expressed genes（No down-regulated genes were detected in Populus simonii）

Fig.7 KEGG enrichment pathway of differentially expressed genes

Fig.8 Expression of key genes in photosynthetic pathway， comparison of PsbA and PetA protein structures in six representative plants and Arabidopsis thaliana

Fig.9 Expression of key genes of jasmonate signaling pathway in representative plants

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Differential gene expression response to warming of typical plants in the Horqin Sandy Land

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