Work

Integrated WGCNA and TO-GCN analysis reveals pathways and genes underlying salt tolerance in Sesbania cannabina

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Salt stress seriously threatens the growth and development of plants. To investigate how Sesbania cannabina responds to salt stress, we constructed a temporal regulatory response network under salt stress by integrating the physiological and transcriptomic data from 'Zhongke Jing No.1' at five time points (0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h, n = 3) after salt treatment. The results indicated that salt stress increased the relative electrical conductivity (REC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, induced the accumulation of osmotic regulators, and enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities. A total of 688,424,778 raw reads were generated by RNA-seq, and 21,422 DEGs were identified using |log2FC| ≥ 1 and adjusted p-value < 0.01. WGCNA and TO-GCN were constructed using β = 20 and PCC cutoff of 0.91, respectively, revealing three response stages: normal (0 h), early stage (6 h and 12 h), and late stage (24 h and 48 h). The MEturquoise module was associated with early osmotic and oxidative responses, while the MEbrown and MEblack modules were associated with late-stage antioxidant defense and secondary metabolism reprogramming. Early-stage genes were mainly involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and plant hormone signal transduction, whereas late-stage genes were enriched in glutathione metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, flavonoid biosynthesis, and isoflavonoid biosynthesis. Based on co-expression and network analyses, 9 putative candidate TFs, including ERF71, WRKY53, and bZIP9, were predicted to be associated with key salt-responsive pathway genes in the pathway subnetworks. These findings indicate that S. cannabina undergoes a transition from early carbon metabolism and hormone-mediated responses to late antioxidant defense and secondary metabolic reprogramming under salt stress.

Source: BMC Plant Biology

DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-09359-z

Authors: Mingzhu An, Xianguo Wang, Wei Wang, Yawen Hou, Xiangyu Wu, Wei Ren

Institutions: China Agricultural University, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,090