Transcriptome Response of Leaves from Young Cannabis sativa L. under Heat Stress

Cannabis sativa L. is a dioecious, annual herbaceous crop (2n = 20) known for its diverse applications across textile, food, cosmetic, and medicinal industries. Recent increases in global temperatures have raised concerns about the impact of heat stress on hemp physiology. Although previous studies have demonstrated reductions in photosynthetic efficiency and cannabinoid levels under heat stress, transcriptome-wide insights into molecular responses remain limited. In this study, we performed a genome-wide transcriptomic analysis to investigate the molecular mechanisms of heat stress response in C. sativa cv. Pink Pepper. This dataset provides a high-resolution transcriptomic resource to explore thermotolerance in C. sativa and contributes to a better understanding of its molecular adaptation to heat stress. The findings can aid future breeding and biotechnology efforts aimed at enhancing stress resilience in hemp. Plants were exposed to high temperature conditions (45 ± 2 °C) for seven days in a controlled growth chamber, and leaf tissues were harvested for mRNA sequencing.