Transcriptome-wide characterization of candidate genes for improving the water use efficiency of energy crops grown on semiarid land.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the genetic basis of water use efficiency (WUE) and its roles in plant adaptation to a drought environment is essential for the production of second-generation energy crops in water-deficit marginal land. In this study, RNA-Seq and WUE measurements were performed for 78 individuals of Miscanthus lutarioriparius grown in two common gardens, one located in warm and wet Central China near the native habitats of the species and the other located in the semiarid Loess Plateau, the domestication site of the energy crop. The field measurements showed that WUE of M. lutarioriparius in the semiarid location was significantly higher than that in the wet location. A matrix correlation analysis was conducted between gene expression levels and WUE to identify candidate genes involved in t

SUBMITTER: Fan Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4588889 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature