Whole genome duplication drives transcriptome reprogramming in response to drought in alfalfa.

ABSTRACT:

Key message

Genome doubling did not enhance drought tolerance in alfalfa, but may set the stage for long-term adaptation to drought through a novel transcriptional landscape. Whole genome duplication (WGD) has been shown to enhance stress tolerance in plants. Cultivated alfalfa is autotetraploid, but diploid wild relatives are important sources of genetic variation for breeding. Investigating how WGD affects gene expression in stress conditions could provide better understanding for use of diploid genetic resources. In this work, we compared the drought response of neotetraploid plants obtained by bilateral sexual polyploidization with diploid full sibs, by measuring physiological and biochemical traits and RNA-seq. Without drought, 4x plants had lower photosynthetic potential than

SUBMITTER: Santoro DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12417302 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature