title: transcriptomic analysis highlight key metabolic pathways in relation to drought tolerance in Rhododendron delavayi
design: Water shortage limits the growth and application of Rhododendron. However, the adaptative mechanism of alpine evergreen rhododendrons to drought remains unclear. In this study, we explore the physiological and transcriptomic mechanisms of R. delavayi to adapt to drought. The results showed that the expressions of many genes related to photosynthesis, signal transduction, flavonoid biosynthesis and antioxidant activity were affected by drought stress. these metabolic pathways may contribute to improve drought tolerance of R. delavayi.