Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2025, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (3): 255-270.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2024-0618

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Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Clove Basil (Ocimum gratissimum) Leaves in Response to Cadmium Stress

WANG Bin(), WANG Yu-kun, XIAO Yan-hui()   

  1. College of Biology and Agriculture, Shaoguan University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Utilization and Conservation of Food and Medicinal Resources in Northern Region, Guangdong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center of Special Fruit and Vegetables in Northern Region, Shaoguan 512005
  • Received:2024-07-01 Online:2025-03-26 Published:2025-03-20
  • Contact: XIAO Yan-hui E-mail:b_wang@sgu.edu.cn;xiaoyanhui-7394@163.com

Abstract:

Objective Clove basil (Ocimum gratissimum) has the potential for both remediation and safe utilization of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soil. Elucidating the molecular mechanisms of clove basil in response to Cd stress and identifying key regulatory factors closely associated with Cd tolerance may provide candidate gene resources for the innovation of germplasm resources of clove basil tolerant to Cd stress. Method This study employed comparative transcriptome to analyze the transcriptomic changes in clove basil leaves during 72 h of Cd treatment (35 μmol/L). Result Cd stress significantly inhibited the growth of clove basil. The leaves, stems, and roots of clove basil accumulated high levels of Cd, with the highest content in the roots. Additionally, Cd stress significantly affected the composition and content of essential oils, inducing the biosynthesis and accumulation of methyl ester cinnamic acid in the leaves. The transcriptome analysis results showed that differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were significantly enriched in pathways such as ribosome, plant-pathogen interaction, and the MAPK signaling pathway in the 24 h comparative group. Whereas DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways including photosynthesis, photosynthesis-antenna proteins, and porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism in the 72 h comparative group. Genes within the light cyan1 module were significantly correlated with the Cd stress phenotype. These genes were primarily enriched in defense pathways such as plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, and the MAPK signaling pathway. Furthermore, the upregulated DEGs in response to Cd stress were also significantly enriched in these three pathways, suggesting that the activation of these pathways was the main mechanism by which clove basil leaves responded to Cd stress. Cd stress treatment induced the expressions of 13 transcription factor genes, in which 5 genes from the bHLH family, suggesting crucial roles for bHLH transcription factors in regulating Cd stress tolerance in clove basil. Conclusion The molecular mechanisms by which clove basil responds to Cd stress closely resemble those of other plant species, and the bHLH transcription factor appears to act as key regulators of Cd tolerance in clove basil.

Key words: clove basil, cadmium stress, RNA-Seq, photosynthesis, bHLH transcription factor