Comparative transcriptomic profiling of High- and Low- grain Zinc and Iron containing Indian wheat genotypes

Abstract

Development of minerals rich grains with stress tolerance response (STR) wheat cultivars will help to eradicate malnutrition problem globally. The current study deals with the comparative transcriptome analysis of 4 High- and 3 Low- grain Zinc (Zn) & Iron (Fe) containing wheat genotypes (HZFWGs, LZFWGs) to elucidate the genes responsible for mineral transportation mechanism and stress tolerance response(STR). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and their functional role in metabolic pathways of mineral transportation, as well as other important pathways, have been explored. Gene ontology (GO) and pathways analysis revealed that phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and other associated pathways are mainly involved in plant stress defense mechanism in both genotypes. Chlorophyll synthesis, purine metabolism, Zn & Fe binding, metal ion transport, and ATP-Synthase coupled transport mechanism are highly active in HZFWGs while ribosomal formation, biomolecules binding activities and secondary metabolite biosynthesis in LZFWGs. It was also found that genes accountable for minerals uptake and purine metabolism in HZFWGs are highly enriched. The genes identified in this study may be used for marker-assisted selection and breeding to develop minerals rich crops. Keywords: Malnutrition, Minerals uptake, Wheat, Metabolic pathways, Phenylpropanoid biosynthesis