Genome‐wide transcriptional responses to water deficit during seed development in Pisum sativum, focusing on sugar transport and metabolism

摘要: Agriculture is particularly impacted by global changes, drought being a main limiting factor of crop production. Here, we focus on pea (Pisum sativum), a model legume cultivated for its seed nutritional value. A water deficit (WD) was applied during its early reproductive phase, harvesting plant organs at two key developmental stages, either at the embryonic or the seed‐filling stages. We combined phenotypic, physiological and transcriptome analyses to better understand the adaptive response to drought. First, we showed that apical growth arrest is a major phenotypic indicator of water stress. Sugar content was also greatly impacted, especially leaf fructose and starch contents. Our RNA‐seq analysis identified 2001 genes regulated by WD in leaf, 3684 genes in root and 2273 genes in embryonic seed, while only 80 genes were regulated during seed‐filling. Hence, a large transcriptional reprogramming occurred in …