转录组测序揭示虎榛子抗旱的遗传机制

o undersand moleuclar bases under the drought tolerance of plants is crucial for genetic improvement of the cultivated crops and forests. In this study, we sequenced trancriptome data of Ostryopsis davidiana (Betulaceae), a shrub species with high drought tolerance in northern and northwestern China, by Illumina Genome Analyzer II. A total of 16,656,446 clean pair-end reads are assembled into 32425 ESTs by Trinity. Among these EST sequences, 27480 ESTs have blast hits in NR protein database. Using blast2go and KAAS for gene annotation, 22126 ESTs are annotated with GO terms and 9246 ESTs are grouped into diverse pathways. Further analyses identifieed genes involved in different aspects of drought tolerance, including those related to regulation of stomatal closure by abscisic acid, the production of osmotic compounds, xanthophyll cycle, wax formation and synthesis of aquaporins. These genes likely play an important role underlying drought tolerance of this shub species. These findings will help us understand drought tolerance of this species and further comparative studies with other species with high drought tolerance.