RNA-Seq analysis of roots of Stylosanthes guianensis in response to manganese toxicity

Stylo (Stylosanthes guianensis) is an important tropical legume with superior tolerance to manganese (Mn) toxicity, which severely constrains plant growth especially in tropical acid soils. However, the underlying mechanisms of Mn tolerance in stylo remain largely unknown. SgUBC2, an ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, has been documented to involved in Mn tolerance in stylo. RNA-seq analysis showed that overexpression of SgUBC2 resulted in changes in a variety of Mn-responsive gene expressions, including genes associated with antioxidant defense response, ion transporter and organic acid metabolism. Overall design: In this study, the transgenic composite stylo plants overexpressing SgUBC2 (OX-SgUBC2) were generated by Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated hairy root transformation metood. The composite stylo plants transformed with the pFGC5941 binary vector (EV) was used as control. After verification of SgUBC2 transcripts in the hairy roots via RT-qPCR analysis, roots of OX-SgUBC2 and EV lines were harvested for RNA-seq analysis.