Superabsorbent Polymers Seed Coatings Modulate Transcriptomic and Physiological Responses to Drought in Rapeseed

Climate change, particularly drought, poses a significant concern to global food security by limiting plant growth and crop productivity. Rapeseed, a crucial source of feed, food, and oil, is particularly vulnerable to drought stress. To mitigate this challenge, the application of novel agricultural materials, such as superabsorbent polymers (SAPs), offer a promising short-term solution for alleviating drought stress. Furthermore, elucidating the mechanisms by which these polymers enhance drought tolerance in various plants can lead to the identification of candidate genes for long-term plant breeding programs aimed at developing more resilient crops. Notably, this dataset represents the first comprehensive investigation to evaluate the effects of SAPs at both the molecular and biological levels using mRNA sequencing, providing remarkable insights into their drought-mitigating mechanisms in rapeseed. mRNA-seq was conducted on five groups, two fossil-based polymers (MERCK, SWT), one natural-based polymer (ABG), a stress control (CS), and a well-watered control (CN), to evaluate their induced transcriptomic changes in rapeseed. Following the International Seed Testing Association guidelines, the experiment was conducted on rapeseed for a duration of 7 days. Afterwards, indexed cDNA libraries were prepared for mRNA sequencing using the Illumina NovaSeq X Plus platform. For this study, we collected 10 mRNA sequencing samples, which were distributed among the different treatment groups.