RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals Up- and Down-Regulated Genes Responding to Drought Stress

Drought stress can adversely affect growth and reduces seed yield and quality of Camelina (Camelina sativa L.), an emerging seed oil crop belonging to belonging to Brassicaceae family However, gene regulatory networks that governing Camelina's response to drought stress is not fully understand or only limited. In the present study, camelina was subjected to different soil drought regimes of 2.2 kilopascal (kPa), 10 kPa, 100 kPa, or rehydration (2 kPa). cDNA libraries of Camelina materials were constructed for Illumina paired-end sequencing analyses and differentially expressed gene (DEG) examination. In comparison to control, about 107, 2989 and 982 were up-regulated, while 146, 3659 and 1189 genes were down-regulated in 2.2, 10, 100 kPa drought stress treatment, respectively. Expression patterns of 6 randomly selected genes including 3 up-regulated genes (PYRIMIDINE 4, cytochrome P450, FASCICLIN-like arabinogalactan protein 8) and 3 down-regulated genes (eukaryotic aspartyl protease family protein, photosystem II light harvesting complex gene, adenosylmethionine decaboxylase) were validated by both reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time-PCR analysis (qRT-PCR). The obtained transcriptome resources, DEGs, and potential stress-responsive candidate genes provide a more comprehensive understanding of the gene regulatory networks that conferring drought tolerance in Camelina.