Gallic acid-induced transcriptomic fine-tuning enhances drought tolerance in Mentha spicata L.

R1, R2, R3 - RNA sequencing raw data from Mentha spicata leaf collected from CNT plants R4, R5, R6 - RNA sequencing raw data from Mentha spicata leaf collected from 50 µM GA plants R7, R8, R9 - RNA sequencing raw data from Mentha spicata leaf collected from CNT-DS plants R10, R11, R12 - RNA sequencing raw data from Mentha spicata leaf collected from 50 µM GA-DS plants EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND PLANT GROWTH CONDITIONS One-month-old Mentha spicata subsp. spicata L. specimens were randomly assigned to either a control group (CNT) or a treatment group, where the soil was supplemented with pure gallic acid (GA) at a concentration of 8.50 mg per kg of dry soil, corresponding to 50 µM GA. Over a 21-day period, both CNT and 50 µM GA plants were subjected to two distinct water regimes, consisting of a well-watered regime maintained at 85% field capacity (FC; designated as CNT and 50 µM GA) and a drought stress condition (DS) with water availability reduced to 42.5% FC (designated as CNT-DS and 50 µM GA-DS). Environmental conditions were kept strictly controlled at 22 °C under a 14 h light/10 h dark photoperiod, with a uniform photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 120 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹, following which leaf tissues were harvested for total RNA extraction.