Comparative transcriptome analysis revealed genes commonly responsive to varied nitrate stress in leaves of Tibetan hulless barley

Nitrogen (N) deprivation or excess can lead to dramatic phenotype change, disrupt important biological processes, and ultimately limit plant productivity. To explore genes in Tibetan hulless barley responsive to varied N stress, we utilized a comparative transcriptomics method to investigate gene expression patterns under three nitrate treatments. The transcriptome of the control (optimal-nitrate, ON) sample was compared with that of free-nitrate (FN), low-nitrate (LN) and high-nitrate (HN) treatment samples, identifying 2,428, 1,274, and 1,861 genes, respectively, that exhibited significant differences in transcript abundance. Among these, 9 genes encoding ribulose bisphosphate carboxylases exhibited up-regulated expression under varied N stress. We further compared FN versus ON and LN versus ON to investigate the impact of stress degree on gene expression. With the aggravation of stress, more genes were differentially expressed and thus possibly involved in the response to nitrogen deficiency. Cluster and functional enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in FN were highly enriched in response to stress, defense response, and gene expression regulation. Comprehensive comparison analysis further suggested that Tibetan hulless barley could respond to varied N stress by regulating multiple common biological processes and pathways such as nitrogen metabolism, carbon metabolism, and photosynthesis. A large number of specific DEGs involved in diverse biological processes were also detected, implying differences in the potential regulatory patterns of low- and high-N stress response. Notably, we also identified some NIN-like proteins and other transcription factors significantly modulated by these stresses, suggesting the involvement of these transcription factors in N stress response. To our knowledge, this study is the first investigation of the Tibetan hulless barley transcriptome under N stress. The identified N-stress-related genes may provide resources for genetic improvement and promote N use efficiency

172 fs, 24.3 kW peak power pulse generation from a Ho-doped fiber laser system

| openaire: EC/FP7/631610/EU//GrabFastWe demonstrate a high-peak-power femtosecond fiber laser system based on single-mode holmium (Ho)-doped fibers. 833 fs, 27.7 MHz pulses at 2083.4 nm generated in a passively mode-locked Ho fiber laser are amplified and compressed to near transform-limited 172 fs, 7.2 nJ pulses with 24.3 kW peak power. We achieve this performance level by using the soliton effect and high-order soliton compression. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of sub-200 fs pulses, with peak power exceeding 10 kW from a Ho-doped single-mode fiber laser system without using bulk optics compressors.Peer reviewe

Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Transcriptome analysis revealed the drought-responsive genes in Tibetan hulless barley

Gene expression for the cluster, IV (a), VI (b), VII (c), and VIII (d) showing down-regulated pattern under drought stress. The columns show the 9 samples A1, B2, C3, D4, E5, F6, G7, H8, I9, while the rows show the log-transformed RPKM values of 93 genes in cluster IV, l08 genes in cluster VI, 52 genes in cluster VII, and 119 genes in cluster VIII, respectively. Hierarchical clustering of expression pattern for genes in was shown at the left of heat-map figure. (DOCX 950 kb

Genome-wide dissection of co-selected UV-B responsive pathways in the UV-B adaptation of qingke

Qingke (Tibetan hulless barley) has long been cultivated and exposed to long-term and strong UV-B radiation on the Tibetan Plateau, which renders it an ideal species for elucidating novel UV-B responsive mechanisms in plants. Here we report a comprehensive metabolite profiling and metabolite-based genome-wide association study (mGWAS) using 196 diverse qingke and barley accessions. Our results demonstrated both constitutive and induced accumulation, and common genetic regulation, of metabolites from different branches of the phenylpropanoid pathway that are involved in UV-B protection. A total of 90 significant mGWAS loci for these metabolites were identified in barley-qingke differentiation regions, and a number of high-level metabolite trait alleles were found to be significantly enriched in qingke, suggesting co-selection of various phenylpropanoids. Upon dissecting the entire phenylpropanoid pathway, we identified some key determinants controlling natural variation of phenylpropanoid content, including three novel proteins, a flavone C-pentosyltransferase, a tyramine hydroxycinnamoyl acyltransferase, and a MYB transcription factor. Our study, furthermore, demonstrated co-selection of both constitutive and induced phenylpropanoids for UV-B protection in qingke

Origin and evolution of qingke barley in Tibet

Tibetan barley (Hordeum vulgare L., qingke) is the principal cereal cultivated on the Tibetan Plateau for at least 3,500 years, but its origin and domestication remain unclear. Here, based on deep-coverage whole-genome and published exome-capture resequencing data for a total of 437 accessions, we show that contemporary qingke is derived from eastern domesticated barley and it is introduced to southern Tibet most likely via north Pakistan, India, and Nepal between 4,500 and 3,500 years ago. The low genetic diversity of qingke suggests Tibet can be excluded as a center of origin or domestication for barley. The rapid decrease in genetic diversity from eastern domesticated barley to qingke can be explained by a founder effect from 4,500 to 2,000 years ago. The haplotypes of the five key domestication genes of barley support a feral or hybridization origin for Tibetan weedy barley and reject the hypothesis of native Tibetan wild barley