Gene co-expression network analysis to identify critical modules and candidate genes of drought-resistance in wheat

作者：Liangjie Lv, Wenying Zhang, Lijing Sun, Aiju Zhao, Yingjun Zhang, Limei Wang, Yuping Liu, Ziqian Li, Hui Li, Xiyong Chen · 发表于：PLoS ONE · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0236186 · 被引用次数：45 · 研究领域：Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance、Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology、Plant responses to water stress

AIM: To establish a gene co-expression network for identifying principal modules and hub genes that are associated with drought resistance mechanisms, analyzing their mechanisms, and exploring candidate genes. METHODS AND FINDINGS: 42 data sets including PRJNA380841 and PRJNA369686 were used to construct the co-expression network through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). A total of 1,896,897,901 (284.30 Gb) clean reads and 35,021 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained from 42 samples. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that photosynthesis, DNA replication, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and cell cycle were significantly influenced by drought stress. Furthermore, the DEGs with similar expression patterns, detected by K-means clustering, were grouped into 29 clusters. Genes involved in the modules, such as dark turquoise, yellow, and brown, were found to be appreciably linked with drought resistance. Twelve central, greatly correlated genes in stage-specific modules were subsequently confirmed and validated at the transcription levels, including TraesCS7D01G417600.1 (PP2C), TraesCS5B01G565300.1 (ERF), TraesCS4A01G068200.1 (HSP), TraesCS2D01G033200.1 (HSP90), TraesCS6B01G425300.1 (RBD), TraesCS7A01G499200.1 (P450), TraesCS4A01G118400.1 (MYB), TraesCS2B01G415500.1 (STK), TraesCS1A01G129300.1 (MYB), TraesCS2D01G326900.1 (ALDH), TraesCS3D01G227400.1 (WRKY), and TraesCS3B01G144800.1 (...