This is an open access article d istributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer cial-ShareAl ike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, d istribution, and reproduction in any med ium, provide d the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] holds immense importance as a staple crop in the tropical and sub-tropical regions across the globe. It is the only domesticated species in the Ipomoea genus (Ravi et al., 2014). Sweet potato is a highly nutritious crop due to its starch-rich storage root that provides a substantial amount of dietary energy and essential nutr ients r equir ed to meet huma n nutr itiona l requirements (van Jaarsveld and Faber, 2013). This versatile crop offers a range of benefits, including a high carbohydrate content, dietary fiber, bioactive compounds (such as proteins, vitamins, β-carotene, a nthocya nins, a nd miner a ls ), a nd nutr itiona l composition compar a ble to cereals a nd pulses (van Jaarsveld and Faber, 2013; Ravi et al., 2014). Additiona lly, sweet pota t o ha s emerged a s a “climate-resilient” and “famine-relief” crop, playing a crucial role in mitigating food shortages during natural calamities, saving numerous lives globally (Gurmu et al., 2014; Ravi et al., 2014). Introduction of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, rich in β-carotene, ha s effectively a ddr essed vita min A-r ela ted malnutrition disorders in pregnant women and young children in developing nations (van Jaarsveld and Faber, 2013; Gurmu et al., 2014). Consequently, sweet potato holds immense potential as an essential dietary component for future human populations (Gurmu et al., 2014). High-temperature stress has detrimental effects on sweet potato growth, development, and overall yield. Studies have shown increased temperatures during early seasons result in fewer tubers and decreased yield, whereas, high temperatures during mid and late seasons promote shoot growth at the expense of root growth, ultimately affecting the final storage root yield (Gaja nayake et al. , 2015). Moreover, elevated temperatures have been found to impact storage root growth and yield negatively, with potential reductions in sweet potato yield (Wijewardana et al., 2018). It Original Research Paper J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023 https://doi.org/10.24154/jhs.v18i1.2131 Transcriptome analysis and identification of leaf, tuberous root and fibrous root tissue-specific high temperature stress-responsive genes in sweet potato Senthilkumar K.M.1, Saravanan R.1*, Ravi V.1 and Gutam S.2 1ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 017, Kerala, India 2ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru - 560 089, Karnataka, India *Corresponding author Email : saravanan.raju@icar.gov.in ABSTRACT Sweet Potato is an important food crop, and its production is affected by environmental stresses, including high temperature. The gene expression patterns and molecular responses in different tissues of sweet potato under high temperature stress were studied using microarray data sets. Analysis revealed that modulation in the expression of key genes and pathways associated with various proteins including enzymes under high temperature stress in leaf, fibrous root and storage root tissues. Tissue-specific responses, with both common and unique cellular responses were observed among the tissues. Pathway analysis revealed the differential regulation of genes involved in DNA replication, metabolism, transport, signaling, and stress response during high temperature stress. Six genes viz., DnaJ-domain protein (IpDnaJ), nuclear protein (IpELF5), heat shock protein 90.1 (IpHsp90.1), ABC transporter (IpABC) hydrolase (IpNUDX1) and alternative oxidase 1a (IpAO1a), were up-regulated in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues. These six genes might play an important role in imparting high temperature stress tolerance in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato. The information generated provides valuable insights on leaf, tuberous root and fibrous root tissue-specific high temperature stress-responsive genes in sweet potato. These datasets will be helpful in selecting candidate genes and pathways for further functional and genomic analyses, facilitating the genetic improvement of sweet potato with enhanced stress tolerance. Keywords : Fibrous root, high temperature stress, microarray, sweet potato, tuberous root 54 J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023 Senthilkumar et al. has also been observed that high temperatures can depress photosynthetic rates, further affecting yield (Ravi et al., 2014). To enhance the resilience of sweet potato crops against heat stress, it is crucial to identify and understand the genes involved explicitly in heat stress responses. By studying these genes, strategies can be developed to improve the crop’s ability to with stand high temperatures and maintain optimal growth and yield. Tr anscr iptome ana lysis plays a crucia l role in understanding the dynamic changes in gene expression under abiotic stress conditions (Katiyar et al., 2015; Sun et al., 2022). Comprehensive tissue-specific transcriptome analysis by employing techniques such as Microarray, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) etc., provides valuable insights into the regulatory programs that govern gene expression during organ development (Katiyar et al., 2015; Ravi et al., 2020). This approach is particularly relevant in the context of sweet potato, as it allows for the identification and characterization of genes specifically involved in heat str ess r esponses, unveiling tissue-specific gene responses and regulatory networks that contribute to the crop’s adaptation and resilience under high- temperature conditions (Sharma et al., 2021). Tissue- specific transcriptome analysis has been employed in various plant species to uncover multiple responses to environmental stressors (Katiyar et al., 2015; Tiwari et al., 2023). Transcriptome analysis has provided valuable insights into tissue-specific gene expression profiles and regulatory networks involved in heat stress responses (Tao et al., 2012; Sun et al., 2022). These studies have revealed specific genes and pathways that are activated or suppressed in response to high temperatures in different plant tissues. Hence, in this study transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the high temperature-responsive genes in sweet potato tissues viz., leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues using microarray. Analysis revealed that under high temperature stress, certain key genes and pathways a ssocia ted with DNA r eplication, meta bolism, transport, signaling, and stress response are modulated in lea f, fibr ous r oot, and stora ge root tissues. Interestingly, tissue-specific responses were observed, with both common and unique cellular responses among the different types of tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material and growth conditions The sweet potato var. Sree Arun was grown in the earthen pots in the natural sunlight conditions with 12 hours sun light per day under 1700 μ mol m2h-1at 30oC ± 2oC during day time and 23oC ± 1oC during night time as described in Ravi et al. (2017). High temperature stress was imposed by exposing the plant to 40oC ± 2oC. High quality RNA was extracted from the leaf, storage root and fibrous root from 30 days old sweet potato plants (Ravi et al., 2017). RNA processing and cRNA synthesis The RNA samples of leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root were labeled using Agilent Quick Amp Kit as per manufacturers protocol (Ravi et al., 2017). 500 ng of RNA was reverse transcribed using oligodT primer tagged to T7 promoter sequence for synthesizing cDNA. The in vitro transcription step was performed to convert cDNA to cRNA using T7 RNA polymerase enzyme and Cy3 dye as per manufacturers protocol (Ravi et al., 2017). The cRNA was further cleaned using Qiagen RNeasy columns (Qiagen, Cat No: 74106). T he concentra tion and amount of dye incor por a ted wa s measur ed using Na no Dr op Spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific, USA). Microarray and expression analysis The Agilent 60-mer oligo microarray (Agilent control grid IS- 62976-8-V2-60K x 8-Gx-EQC-201000210) was used for studying the expression pattern of the genes of sweet potato (Ravi et al., 2020). For these, 600 ng of labeled cRNA were hybridized on the array using the Gene Expression Hybridization kit following ma nufa ctur er s instr uction using Agilent Sur e hybridization Chambers at 65º C for 16 hours. Hybridized slides were washed using Agilent Gene Expression wash buffers (Part No: 5188-5242). G2505C scanner (Agilent Technologies) was used to scan the slides. Sample preparation and microarray expression analysis was performed at the Genotypic Technology Pvt. Ltd. , Benga lur u, India . T he microarray datasets generated in this study was submitted to NCBI GEO: GSE51862. The raw data was processed and the expression of the probes was transformed into the log2 ratio. The gene expression with log2 FC >2 was considered as upregulated and gene expression with log2 FC < -2 was considered as downregulated. Differentially expressed genes (both upregulated and downregulated) were considered for further analysis. The sequence information of the sweet potato probes were used as a query and a blast search was performed against the Arabidopsis and rice genome da ta ba se to identify the r espective 55 Transcriptome analysis and temperature-responsive genes in sweet potato orthologous. The gene annotated information and LOC details of Arabidopsis were used for predicting the gene ontology (Tian et al., 2017). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The present study aimed to investigate the gene expression patterns in different tissues of sweet potato (leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root) in response to high temperature stress. Transcriptome analysis using microarray technology revealed the modulation of key genes and pathways associated with various proteins and enzymes in the different tissues of sweet potato under high temperature stress. Differential expression analysis Differential expression analysis revealed that 967, 1461 and 109 genes were upregulated in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues, respectively, whereas, 904, 1264 and 2701 genes were down regulated in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues, respectively during high temperature stress (Table 1 and supplementary Table 1). The details of the p ro b e s / g e n e s , g e n e e x p r e s s io n (f o l d c h a n g e ) , description, etc., are presented in supplementary Table 1. The present findings aligned with Ravi et al. (2017, 2020), who demonstrated the use of microarray analysis in understanding the molecular responses of tuber development in sweet potato. Differential expression analysis identified a substantial number of upregulated and downregulated genes in each tissue, highlighting the tissue-specific response to high temperature stress. Furthermore, the study identified common and unique cellular responses among the tissues, as supported by the differential regula tion of pathway genes involved in DNA replication, metabolism, transport, signaling, and stress response (Tao et al., 2012; Sharma et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2022). High temperature stress responsive genes in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato Molecular chaperones viz., heat shock proteins, DnaJ- domain, etc., protects the native proteins from the stress induced dama ges by r eta ining its native structures (Muthusamy et al., 2016). The movement of these proteins across cell organelles was regulated with the help of coordinated function of various transporters such as Ran GTPase (Choudhury et al., 2021). Alternative oxidase (AOX) protects the plant mitochondria under high temperature stress (Saha et a l. , 2016). In this study, sixty genes wer e differentially regulated in all three tissues viz., leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues under high temperature stress (Fig. 1 and supplementary Table 2). Out of these sixty, six genes, DnaJ-domain protein (IpDnaJ), Nuclear protein (IpELF5), heat shock protein 90.1 (IpHsp90.1), Alternative oxidase 1a (IpAO1a), ABC transporter (IpABC) and hydrolase (IpNUDX1) were upregulated (Table 2), whereas, twenty-six genes were downregulated regulated in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues respectively during high temperature stress (Fig. 1, supplementary Fig. 1 and supplementary Table 2). Thus, these six genes might play an important functional role in protecting the cellular proteins in leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues under high temperature stress in sweet potato (Muthusamy et al., 2017; Saha et al., 2016; Choudhury et al., 2021). In the present study, 376 were differentially regulated in both leaf and fibrous r oot tissues, whereas, 148 genes wer e differentially regulated in both leaf and tuberous root tissues during high temperature stress (Fig. 1 and supplementary Table 1). About 250 genes were differentially regulated in both fibrous root and tuberous root tissues under high temperature stress (Fig. 1 and supplementary Fig. 1). Several studies ha ve shown the significa nt modulation in the expression of transcriptome involving important genes/ Table 1 : Differentially expressed gene (DEGs) statistics under high temperature stress in sweet potato Analysis group Total DEGs Upregulated Downregulated (Log2 FC>2 and Log2 FC<-2) (Log2 FC>2) (Log2 FC<-2) Leaf tissue 1871 967 904 Fibrous root tissue 2725 1461 1264 Tuberous root Tissue 2810 109 2701 J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023 56 Table 2 : Details of the upregulated genes in leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato under high temperature stress Gene Description/ Sweet potato Fold Change (log2 FC) Arabidopsis ortholog function Array Probe Leaf Fibrous Tuberous (LOC ID) ID root root IpDnaJ DnaJ Chaperone JP117116 3.16 2.23 2.26 AT5G03030.1 IpNUDX 1 cytosol-localized JP135891 3.83 3.22 2.80 AT1G68760.1 nudix hydrolase IpABCC3 ABC transporter JP140208 4.09 2.75 2.31 AT3G13080.4 family protein IpELF5 Nuclear Protein JP144908 2.76 2.62 2.46 AT5G62640.2 IpHsp90.1 Heat shock JP146862 3.73 3.14 2.92 AT5G56010.1 protein 90 (HSP90) IpAO1a Alternative JP145717 5.45 4.26 3.90 AT3G22370.1 oxidase 1a Fig. 1 : Venn diagram showing upregulated and downregulated genes in the leaf, fibrous root and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato under high temperature stress in comparison with control condition pathwa ys during high temper ature stress. The pathways/genes including phytohormones, molecular chaperones, signaling kinesis, ROS scavenging enzymes, Epigenetic modifications, transcription factors, etc., were differently expressed during high temperature stress (Sharma et al., 2021; Venkatesh et al., 2022). Tissue specific molecula r, biochemica l a nd physiologica l r esponse pla y impor tant r ole in regula ting high tempera tur e response in plants (Muthusamy et al., 2017; Sharma et al., 2021; Xiang and Rathinasabapathi, 2022). Thus, in this study, under high temperature stress, the pathway genes viz., DNA replication, galactose metabolism, biosynthesis of nucleotide sugars, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, carbon metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were modulated in the leaf tissue, whereas, biosynthesis of nucleotide sugars, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, mRNA surveillance pathway and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites were modulated in the fibrous root tissues (Fig. 2). Similarly, in the tuberous root tissues, ribosome, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, oxidative phosphory- lation, protein export, ABC transporters, nucleocyto- plasmic transport, mRNA surveillance pathway, plant hormone signal transduction, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum- plant-pathogen interaction and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway genes were modulated. Additionally, previous resea rch has elucidated the molecular responses of sweet potato to other stress conditions such as low temperature stress (Wijewardana et al., 2018). These studies collectively contribute to understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying stress responses in sweet potato (Wijewardana et al., 2018; Ravi et al., 2020; J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023 Senthilkumar et al. 57 A. leaf B. fibrous root C. tuberous root Fig. 2 : GO categories of DEGs of sweet potato under high temperature stress. Transcriptome analysis and temperature-responsive genes in sweet potato J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023 58 Sun et al., 2022; Xiang and Rathinasabapathi, 2022). Thus, present study demonstrates the presence of both collective and individual cellular responses to high temperature stress in the leaf, fibrous root, and tuberous root tissues of sweet potato. CONCLUSION T he study sheds light on the effects of high temperature stress on the gene expression profiles and molecular responses in the leaf, fibrous root, and storage root tissues of sweet potato. The study identified both common and tissue-specific responses to high temperature stress among these tissues through comparative analysis. The findings provide valuable insights for identifying key genes and pathways involved in the response to high temperature stress, facilitating further functional and genomic studies aimed at enhancing the genetic improvement. 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(Received : 26.05.2023; Revised : 21.06.2023; Accepted 24.06.2023) Transcriptome analysis and temperature-responsive genes in sweet potato J. Hortic. Sci. Vol. 18(1) : 53-59, 2023