Drought adaptation and responses of Stipa krylovii vary among different regions: evidence from growth, physiology and RNA-seq transcriptome analysis

The main contribution of our study is to explore drought adaptation and response mechanisms of among Stipa krylovii and their differences among three regions based on growth and physiological traits and RNA-seq transcriptome data. The results revealed that the growth and physiological traits of S. krylovii decreased with higher drought stress. In the facet of RNA-seq transcriptome, the drought adaptation and response mechanisms were similar for individuals from eastern and middle regions, and they showed dissimilarity with individuals from the western region. In addition, S. krylovii regulated metabolic pathways to respond to drought. Significantly different drought adaptation strategies and diversity drought response mechanisms of S. krylovii within its distribution region could help us understand and predict the evolution potential and distribution region shifts of this important species.