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. 2024 Feb 1;25(3):1800.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25031800.

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Mechanism of Exogenous Selenium in Alleviating Cadmium Stress in Purple Flowering Stalks (Brassica campestris var. purpuraria)

Zhi Huang  1 , Shiling Meng  1 , Juan Huang  1 , Wende Zhou  1 , Xiaoli Song  1 , Peiyao Hao  1 , Peigen Tang  1 , Yihan Cao  1 , Fen Zhang  1 , Huanxiu Li  1 , Yi Tang  1 , Bo Sun  1
Affiliations

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Mechanism of Exogenous Selenium in Alleviating Cadmium Stress in Purple Flowering Stalks (Brassica campestris var. purpuraria)

Zhi Huang et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

In China, cadmium (Cd) stress has a significant role in limiting the development and productivity of purple flowering stalks (Brassica campestris var. purpuraria). Exogenous selenium supplementation has been demonstrated in earlier research to mitigate the effects of Cd stress in a range of plant species; nevertheless, the physiological and molecular processes by which exogenous selenium increases vegetable shoots' resistance to Cd stress remain unclear. Purple flowering stalks (Brassica campestris var. purpuraria) were chosen as the study subject to examine the effects of treatment with sodium selenite (Na2SeO3) on the physiology and transcriptome alterations of cadmium stress. Purple flowering stalk leaves treated with exogenous selenium had higher glutathione content, photosynthetic capacity, and antioxidant enzyme activities compared to the leaves treated with Cd stress alone. Conversely, the contents of proline, soluble proteins, soluble sugars, malondialdehyde, and intercellular CO2 concentration tended to decrease. Transcriptome analysis revealed that 2643 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were implicated in the response of exogenous selenium treatment to Cd stress. The metabolic pathways associated with flavonoid production, carotenoid synthesis, glutathione metabolism, and glucosinolate biosynthesis were among those enriched in these differentially expressed genes. Furthermore, we discovered DEGs connected to the production route of glucosinolates. This work sheds fresh light on how purple flowering stalks' tolerance to cadmium stress is improved by exogenous selenium.

Keywords: antioxidant enzymes; cadmium; cadmium-responsive genes; glucosinolate metabolism; photosynthetic; purple flowering stalks (Brassica campestris var. purpuraria); selenium.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of selenium treatment on the phenotype (A), height (B), root length (C), shoot fresh weight (D) and root fresh weight (E) of purple flowering stalks exposed to cadmium stress. The plant phenotype is 9 d after cadmium treatment. CK, distilled water plus optimal growth conditions; CdCK, distilled water plus cadmium; CdSe, selenium plus cadmium; Se, selenium plus optimal growth conditions. Each data point represents the mean of three replicate samples, and vertical bars represent the standard deviation of the mean. According to Duncan’s test, different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of selenium treatment on photosynthetic parameters of purple flowering stalks exposed to cadmium. (A) Maximum photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm); (B) electron transport rate (ETR); (C) net photosynthetic rate (Pn); (D) stomatal conductance (Gs); (E) intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci); (F) transpiration rate (Tr). According to Duncan’s test, different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of selenium treatment on the antioxidant enzyme activity and osmotic regulation in purple flowering stalks exposed to cadmium. (A) SOD activity; (B) POD activity; (C) APX activity; (D) GR activity; (E) soluble protein; (F) soluble sugar; (G) MDA; (H) proline. According to Duncan’s test, different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of selenium treatment on the GSH-ASA cycle in purple flowering stalks exposed to cadmium. (A) ASA content; (B) GSH content. According to Duncan’s test, different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in leaves of purple flowering stalks treated with cadmium or/and selenium pretreatment. (A) The number of upregulated and downregulated DEGs. (B) Venn diagram of DEGs among the comparison groups.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis of DEGs among comparison groups. (A) CK vs. CdCK; (B) CdSe vs. CdCK; (C) CdSe vs. CK.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis of DEGs among comparison groups. (A) CK vs. CdCK; (B) CdSe vs. CdCK; (C) CdSe vs. CK.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Effects of selenium treatment on purple flowering stalks on transcript profiles of the genes involved in glucosinolate metabolism pathway. (A) Schematic diagram of GSL biosynthetic pathway, including biosynthesis of core GSL structure and secondary modification. (B) Effects of selenium treatment on purple flowering stalks on glucosinolate contents. According to Duncan’s test, different letters indicate a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Heatmap of DEGs in KEGG pathway enrichment. Glutathione metabolism, carotenoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, sulfur metabolism, ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, photosynthesis.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Physiological and molecular regulatory mechanisms by which exogenous selenium application enhances the cadmium resistance of purple flowering stalks. Red and green boxes indicate the increases and decreases in the content of substances and gene expression, and white boxes represent no significant changes in substance content and gene expression. * represents the value of L, a, b.
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