Kobresia plant (Kobresia littledalei) is the dominant vegetation type in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region where the temperatures can be extremely low and harsh during winter. However, the potential molecular mechanisms that respond to cold remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we applied the use of high-throughput sequencing technology in investigating the genes involved in Kobresia plant acclimation and response to cold stress. Kobresia plants were grown in pots for 7 days in a 25 °C greenhouse and thereafter subdivided into 6 batches (Kli-0 to Kli-5) that were exposed to cold-treatment in a – 5 °C cryogenic treatment room at varying timelines (0–48 h); With Kli-0 batch being the control (untreated). We sequenced the treated samples and obtained 90,331,944 clean reads. Clustering analysis assigned a total of 214,531 assembled trinity genes. For functional annotation, all the assembled unigenes were aligned against public databases that include NCBI’s Pfam (Pfam protein families), Uniprot (Swiss-Prot), KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database) and KOG (eukaryotic orthologous groups) classification system was used to assign the possible functions of the obtained unigenes. From these, we linked a great number of candidate genes to the cold stress response. Several significant DEGs and metabolic responses were identified and discussed. Further, we identified significant DEG’s from the transcriptome data. AP2/ERF-ERF gene family could be playing a significant role that enhances the survival of K. littledalei to cold stress conditions. In conclusion, our findings herein further the general understanding of Kobresia plants' adaptation and responses to cold stress through the molecular mechanisms involved in signal regulation and cold resistance.

Kobresia 植物 ( Kobresia littledalei) 是青藏高原地区的主要植被类型，该地区冬季气温极低且严酷。然而，对寒冷做出反应的潜在分子机制仍有待充分阐明。在这项研究中，我们应用高通量测序技术研究了与高粱植物驯化和对冷胁迫反应相关的基因。Kobresia 植物在 25 °C 温室中的盆中生长 7 天，然后细分为 6 个批次（Kli-0 到 Kli-5），在 – 5 °C 的低温处理室中以不同的时间进行冷处理（ 0-48 小时）；Kli-0 批次为对照（未处理）。我们对处理过的样本进行了测序，获得了 90,331,944 个干净的读数。聚类分析分配了总共 214,531 个组装的三位一体基因。对于功能注释，所有组装的 unigenes 都与包括 NCBI 的 Pfam（Pfam 蛋白家族）、Uniprot（Swiss-Prot）、KEGG（京都基因和基因组数据库）和 KOG（真核直系同源群）分类系统的公共数据库进行比对，用于分配获得的unigenes的可能功能。从这些中，我们将大量候选基因与冷应激反应联系起来。确定并讨论了几个重要的 DEG 和代谢反应。此外，我们从转录组数据中确定了重要的 DEG。AP2/ERF-ERF 基因家族可能在提高 K. littledalei 对冷胁迫条件的存活方面发挥重要作用。总之，我们在此的发现进一步加深了对 Kobresia 植物的一般理解