Transcriptome sequencing and drought resistance gene annotation in Quercus liaotungensis leaves

Abstract

Q. liaotungensis is an important drought-resistant tree species in Northeast China where the climate is dry and rainless. In this study, we performed a deep transcriptomic sequencing in Q. liaotungensis leaves, including de novo assembly and functional annotation for screening the candidate genes involved in drought avoidance. A total of 25,593 unigenes were obtained from Illumina sequencing platform. According to Gene Ontology annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, we screened a series of candidate genes encoding SOD, POD, CAT, DREB, MYB, WRKY, bZIP, and NAC from the Q. liaotungensis leaf transcriptome, all of which are potentially involved in drought resistance. The results of this study expanded the genetic resources of Q. liaotungensis and provided a theoretical basis for further exploring the functional gene information of Q. liaotungensis.