Abstract Sunki Maravilha' and 'Sunki Tropical' are citrus plants with different drought tolerance strategies. `Sunki Tropical' is considered as another rootstock alternative for use in drought prone areas, however, its genetic expression profiles regarding response to water deficit, are still unknown. In this study, the transcriptome of the ‘Sunki Maravilha’ and ‘Sunki Tropical’ rootstocks under control were analyzed by RNA-seq technique using the Illumina HiSeq-2500. A total of 109,114.164 reads were produced and mapped against the Citrus sinensis reference genome (version 1.1). 3.607 transcripts showed significant variation in expression between the water deficit and control treatments with 739 genes up-regulated and 2868 down-regulated during water deficit imposition. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified are involved in more than 100 biological processes and molecular functions whereas most enriched for the function of oxidoreductase, protein phosporilation, transcriptional regulation, ligation processes and response to oxidative stress. DEGs related to the biosynthesis of ABA (Abscisic Acid), redox system, cell wall mechanism, root development, transcription factors (TFs) and kinase proteins (KPs), were also identified. This work lays the basic foundation for further investigation of the specific functions of genes in citrus rootstocks, Sunki Maravilha’ and Sunki Tropical’, with different strategies of survival under water deficit and also provides candidate genes for engineering or breeding of citrus plants aiming drought tolerance.

中文翻译：

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具有不同耐受策略的柑橘砧木品种干旱响应候选基因的转录组谱

摘要 Sunki Maravilha'和'Sunki Tropical'是具有不同耐旱策略的柑橘类植物。“Sunki Tropical”被认为是用于干旱易发地区的另一种砧木替代品，然而，其关于缺水反应的基因表达谱仍然未知。在本研究中，使用 Illumina HiSeq-2500 通过 RNA-seq 技术分析了受控的“Sunki Maravilha”和“Sunki Tropical”砧木的转录组。总共产生了 109,114.164 个读数，并针对 Citrus sinensis 参考基因组（1.1 版）进行了映射。3.607 个转录本在缺水和对照处理之间显示出显着的表达差异，其中 739 个基因在缺水施加期间上调，2868 个基因下调。鉴定出的差异表达基因 (DEG) 涉及 100 多种生物过程和分子功能，其中最丰富的功能包括氧化还原酶、蛋白质磷酸化、转录调控、连接过程和对氧化应激的反应。还鉴定了与 ABA（脱落酸）生物合成、氧化还原系统、细胞壁机制、根发育、转录因子 (TF) 和激酶蛋白 (KP) 相关的 DEG。这项工作为进一步研究柑橘砧木Sunki Maravilha'和Sunki Tropical'基因在缺水条件下的不同生存策略的具体功能奠定了基础，也为以抗旱为目标的柑橘植物工程或育种提供了候选基因。 .