GSE171303
Small RNA, transcriptome and degradome analysis of the transgenerational heat stress response network in durum wheat
Heat stress is a major limiting factor for grain yield and grain quality in wheat production. In crops, abiotic stresses have transgenerational effects and the mechanistic basis of stress memory is associated with epigenetic regulation. The current study presents the first systematic analysis of the transgenerational effects of post-anthesis heat stress in tetraploid wheat. Genotype-dependent response patterns to parental and progeny heat stress were found for the leaf physiological traits, harvest components, and grain quality traits measured. Parental heat stress had positive influence on the offspring under re-occurring stress for traits like chlorophyll content, grain weight, grain number and grain total starch content. Integrated sequencing analysis of the small RNAome, mRNA transcriptome, and mRNA degradome provided the first description of the molecular networks mediating heat stress adaption under transgenerational influence. The expression profile of 1771 microRNAs (733 being novel) and 66,559 genes was provided, with differentially expressed microRNAs and genes identified subject to the progeny treatment, parental treatment and tissue type factors. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway annotation of stress responsive microRNAs-mRNA modules provided further information on their functional roles in biological processes like hormone homeostasis, signal transduction, and protein stabilization. Our results provide new sights on the molecular basis of transgenerational heat stress adaptation, which can be used for improving thermos-tolerance in breeding. Overall design: Analysis of small RNA transcriptome, mRNA transcriptome and mRNA degradome in eight biological pools (four treatment groups by two tissue types)