Physiological characteristics and transcriptomic analysis of response patterns of Gynura divaricata under NaCl stress

Abstract

Abstract Soil salinity is a major environmental stress that restricts agricultural production worldwide. Gynura divaricata is widely cultivated on tropical islands in China and has both edible and medicinal value. NaCl stress and growth indicators, antioxidant enzyme activity, as well as MDA, proline, and soluble sugar content, were determined. Based on the transcriptomic data of G. divaricata tissue-cultured plantlets grown in control (0 mM NaCl) and (50 and 200 mM) NaCl stress conditions, the expression patterns of responsive genes were explored. KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes indicated that plant hormone signaling, the MAPK signaling pathway, and starch and sucrose metabolism pathways, were significantly enriched, allowing the main biological pathways and salt stress-responsive genes of G. divaricata to be identified, and providing a molecular basis for breeding salt-tolerant varieties.