Identification, Analysis and Validation Stress Response Genes in the Mature Seeds of Moringa oleifera Lam. Transcriptome

• Main Author: De La Cruz, Marlon
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2020
• Subjects: Moringa oleifera, mature embryo, stress response, transcriptome,bioinformatics, RT-qPCR
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/theses-dissertations/391
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Moringa oleifera Lam. is an important agricultural crop because it is resistant to climate change and pathogens. In spite of the fact that M. oleifera is a resilient plant that is adaptable to a wide range of environmental conditions from dry to hot, wet and humid conditions, there is a dearth of information on its stress response genes. The main objective of this study is to identify and validate the stress response genes in the transcriptome of M. oleifera Lam. mature seeds. The study also aimed to validate the expression levels of the five (5) highly expressed stress response genes from the M. oleifera mature seeds transcriptome based on their FPKM values. Identification of stress response genes were done using COG functional annotation from the NCBI Non- Redundant protein database for Trinity, Oases and SOAP transcriptome assemblers. Gene identification using BLAST2GO for the Trinity and Oases assemblers was also performed. A total of 1,358 sequences from the Trinity assembler, 1,420 from the Oases assembler and 1,899 from the SOAP assembler involved in stress response were identified. Additionally, a total of 3,571 sequences the from Oases and 4,997 sequences from the Trinity transcriptome assemblers were found to possess the GO term “response to stress”. The five (5) highly expressed stress response genes identified in the M. oleifera transcriptome were PER42 (response to oxidative stress), PIP1-3 (response to osmotic stress), HSP80 (response to heat stress), UBC10 (response to salt and drought stress) and TH14 (response to biotic stress). Comparison of the levels of expression of the stress response genes using transcriptome data and qPCR analyses showed differences in gene expression levels between the two (2) sampling sites namely: Muñoz, Nueva Ecija and Karangalan Village, Pasig City. It implies that levels v of gene expression are affected by various environmental stresses in the site where the seeds have been obtained.