Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses of glutamine metabolism genes unveil key players in Oryza sativa (L.) to ameliorate the unique and combined abiotic stress tolerance

Abstract

Plants can be considered to biosynthesize the specialized metabolites to adapt to various environmental stressors mainly on abiotic stresses (AbS). Among specialized metabolites, glutamine (Gln) is an essential plant metabolite to achieve sustainable plant growth, yield and food security. In this pilot study, swe employed computational metabolomics genome wide association survey (cmGWAS) of Gln metabolite profiling in Oryza sativa, targeting at the identification of abiotic stress responsible (AbSR) - Gln metabolite producing genes (GlnMPG). Identified 5 AbSR-GlnMPG alter the metabolite levels and play a predominant role in delineating the physiological significance of rice. These genes were systematically analysed for their biological features via OryzaCyc. Spatio-temporal and plant hormonal expression pattern of AbSR-GlnMPG was analysed and their differential expression profiling were noted in 48 different tissues and hormones, respectively. Furthermore, comparative ideogram of these genes revealed the chromosomal synteny with C4 grass genomes. Molecular crosstalks of these proteins, unravelled the various metabolic interaction. The systems expression profiling of AbSR-GlnMPG will lead to unravel the metabolite signaling and putative responses in multiple AbS. On the whole, this holistic study provides deeper insights on biomolecular features of AbSR-GlnMPG, which could be analysed further to decipher their functional metabolisms in AbS dynamism.

Keywords: Abiotic stress; Chromosomal mapping; Glutamine; Phytohormones; Spatio-temporal; cmGWAS.