• Zinc (Zn) is an indispensable element for rice growth. Zn deficiency results in brown blotches and streaks 2–3 weeks after transplanting, as well as stunting, reduced tillering, and low productivity of rice plants. These processes are controlled by different families of expressed genes.
• A comparative transcriptome profile analysis was conducted using the roots of two Zn deficiency tolerant varieties (UCP122 and KALIBORO26) and two sensitive varieties (IR26 and IR64) by merging data from untreated control (CK) and Zn deficiency treated samples.
• Results revealed a total of 4,688 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the normal Zn and deficient conditions, with 2,702 and 1,489 unique DEGs upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Functional enrichment analysis identified transcription factors (TFs), such as WRKY, MYB, ERF, and bHLH which are important in the regulation of the Zn deficiency response. Furthermore, chitinases, jasmonic acid, and phenylpropanoid pathways were found to be important in the Zn deficiency response. The metal tolerance protein (MTP) genes also appeared to play an important role in conferring tolerance to Zn deficiency. A heavy metal‐associated domain‐containing protein 7 was associated with tolerance to Zn deficiency and negatively regulated downstream genes.
• Collectively, our findings provide valuable expression patterns and candidate genes for the study of molecular mechanisms underlying the response to Zn deficiency and for improvements in breeding for tolerance to Zn deficiency in rice.

中文翻译：

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不同锌耐性水稻品种的转录组谱比较分析

• 锌是水稻生长必不可少的元素。锌缺乏会导致移栽后2–3周出现棕色斑点和条纹，以及发育迟缓，分till减少和水稻植株生产力低下。这些过程由表达基因的不同家族控制。
• 通过合并两个未经处理的对照（CK）和经锌缺乏处理的样品的数据，使用两个耐锌缺乏品种（UCP122和KALIBORO26）和两个敏感品种（IR26和IR64）的根进行了比较转录组谱分析。
• 结果显示，正常锌与缺乏状态之间共有4688个差异表达基因（DEG），分别有2702个和1489个独特的DEG上调和下调。功能富集分析确定了转录因子（TF），例如WRKY，MYB，ERF和bHLH，它们在调节锌缺乏反应中很重要。此外，发现几丁质酶，茉莉酸和苯丙氨酸途径在锌缺乏反应中很重要。金属耐受蛋白（MTP）基因在赋予对锌缺乏的耐受性中似乎也起着重要作用。含有重金属的结构域蛋白7与对锌缺乏的耐受性和下游基因的负调控有关。
• 总的来说，我们的发现为水稻对锌缺乏的响应的潜在分子机制的研究以及水稻耐缺锌育种的改进提供了有价值的表达模式和候选基因。