Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of the Roots and Leaves of Bupleurum Chinense DC. Seedlings Under Drought Stress

Abstract Background drought stress is one of the important environmental factors affecting the quality and yield of medicinal materials, and is the main factor restricting the field production of Bupleurum chinense . B. chinense seedlings sensitive to low moisture, but there are few reports on the molecular mechanism of B. chinense seedlings under drought stress. Therefore, the transcriptome of the leaves and roots of B. chinense seedlings before and after drought were analyzed by Illumina sequencing technology and bioinformatics analysis. Results a total of 59.82 GB of clean data was obtained, and the unigenes were compared with Nr, Swissprot, String, GO, KEGG, and Pfam databases. Under drought stress, 3,737 and 6,816 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in leaves and roots of B. chinense , respectively. The obtained DEGs from leaves and roots were classified into 37, and 36 GO terms and were involved in 222 and 253 KEGG pathways, respectively. SSR analysis were obtained identified 33,728 loci, wherein dinucleotides accounted for the largest proportion. Genes involved in diterpenoid and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis were significantly over-expressed in roots under drought stress, suggesting these two cellular processes underpin the adaptation and resistance of B. chinense seedlings to drought stress. Conclusions the results provided a theoretical basis for further identification of the molecular mechanism of drought resistance and breeding of drought resistance varieties of B. chinense.