Transcriptional regulation and functional analysis of Nicotiana tabacum under salt and ABA stress

Soil salinization is an important factor that restricts crop quality and yield and causes an enormous toll to human beings. Salt stress and abscisic acid (ABA) stress will occur in the process of soil salinization. In this study, transcriptome sequencing of tobacco leaves under salt and ABA stress in order to further study the resistance mechanism of tobacco. Compared with controlled groups, 1654 and 3306 DEGs were obtained in salt and ABA stress, respectively. The genes function enrichment analysis showed that the up-regulated genes in salt stress were mainly concentrated in transcription factor WRKY family and PAR1 resistance gene family, while the up-regulated genes were mainly concentrated on bHLH transcription factor, Kunitz-type protease inhibitor, dehydrin (Xero1) gene and CAT (Catalase) family protein genes in ABA stress. Tobacco MAPK cascade triggered stress response through up-regulation of gene expression in signal transduction. The expression products of these up-regulated genes can improve the abiotic stress resistance of plants. These results have an important implication for further understanding the mechanism of salinity tolerance in plants.