Comparative Transcriptome Profiling Under Cadmium Stress Reveals the Uptake and Tolerance Mechanism in Brassica juncea

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is a biologically non-essential and phytotoxic heavy metal pollutant. In this study, we estimated the Cd accumulation potential of Indian mustard and identified factors responsible for Cd uptake, tolerance, and detoxification. Eight transcriptomic libraries were sequenced and ≈ 230 million good quality reads were generated. The alignment rate against B. juncea reference genome V1.5 varied in the range of 85.03–90.06%. Comparative expression analysis using DESeq2 revealed 11,294 genes to be significantly differentially expressed under Cd treatment. The agriGO singular enrichment analysis revealed genes related to response to chemical, oxidative stress, transport, and secondary metabolic process were upregulated, whereas multicellular organismal development, developmental process, and photosynthesis were downregulated by Cd treatment. Furthermore, 616 membrane transport proteins were found to be significantly differentially expressed. Cd-related transporters such as metal transporter (Nramp1), metal tolerance protein (MTPC2, MTP11), cadmium-transporting ATPase, and plant cadmium resistance protein (PCR2, PCR6) were upregulated whereas cadmium/zinc-transporting ATPase (HMA2, HMA3, HMA4), high-affinity calcium antiporter (CAX1), and iron transport protein (IRT1) were downregulated by Cd treatment. A total of 332 different gene-networks affected by Cd stress were identified using KAAS analysis. Various plant hormones signaling cascades were modulated suggesting their role in Cd stress tolerance. The regulation overview using MapMan analysis also revealed gene expression related to plant hormones, calcium regulation, and MAP kinases were altered under Cd stress.