Root Ethylene and Abscisic Acid Responses to Flooding Stress in Styrax japonicus: A Transcriptomic Perspective

Abstract

Global climate change has led to an increased frequency of extreme weather events, with flooding caused by heavy rainfall posing a significant threat to plant growth and survival. Styrax japonicus, a species of ecological and economic importance, exhibits stronger flooding tolerance compared to its congener Styrax tonkinensis. Endogenous hormonal systems in plants are indispensable for integrating growth dynamics, developmental transitions, and ecological stress perception-transduction pathways. To investigate the response of S. japonicus to flooding stress at both hormonal and molecular levels, this study utilized annual seedlings of S. japonicus as experimental material. Two levels of flooding stress, waterlogging and submergence, were applied to examine the variations in endogenous hormone levels in S. japonicus roots under different stress conditions and durations. Combined with transcriptome sequencing, critical genes associated with hormone-mediated signaling and biosynthetic processes were identified. The results showed that the content of the ethylene precursor ACC exhibited a trend of "increase-decrease-increase", with an earlier decline under submergence compared to waterlogging stress by approximately 10 days. Abscisic acid content sharply decreased at 5 d, followed by an initial increase and subsequent decrease, with higher ABA levels observed under waterlogging stress than under submergence. GA content significantly decreased after 10 d in both stress conditions. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the most prominently enriched pathway for DEGs was plant hormone signal transduction under both waterlogging and submergence stress, with 314 and 370 DEGs identified, respectively. Analysis of common genes indicated their association with ethylene, ABA, auxin, and BRs. After further investigation of DEGs in the ethylene and ABA biosynthesis process, we identified key enzyme genes encoding ACS, ACO, and NCED, which are critical for their biosynthesis.

Keywords: Styrax; flooding; pathway; phytohormone; root.

Figure 1

Morphological changes in the root system of S. japonicus at various sampling time points.

Figure 2

Changes in ACC content in the roots of S. japonicus under flooding stress. Lowercase letters indicate the significance of differences between different sampling times under the same treatment. The same below.

Figure 3

Changes in ABA (a), GA1 (b), SA (c), and T-Zeatin (d) content in the roots of S. japonicus under flooding stress.

Figure 4

PCA analysis of samples under flooding stress. “W” and “S” represent waterlogging stress and submergence, respectively.

Figure 5

KEGG pathway analysis of DEGs; comparison between 5 d (a), 10 d (b), 15 d (c), 20 d (d), 25 d (e) and 0 d under waterlogging stress.

Figure 6

KEGG pathway analysis of DEGs; comparison between 5 d (a), 10 d (b), 15 d (c), 20 d (d), 25 d (e) and 0 d under submergence.

Figure 7

Venn plots of DEGs on the plant hormone signal transduction pathway under waterlogging stress (a) and submergence (b).

Figure 8

Correlation analysis of DEGs on the ethylene biosynthesis process and endogenous hormone content under flooding stress.

Figure 9

Correlation analysis of DEGs on the ABA biosynthesis process and endogenous hormone content under flooding stress.

Figure 10

Schematic diagram of flooding stress treatment.