Response of the pea transcriptome to sulfur-deficiency combined or not with moderate water stress

Water stress and sulfur-deficiency are two constraints increasingly faced by crops due to climate change and low-input practices. The objective was to investigate the effect of these stresses on the transcriptome of developing seeds in the grain legume pea (Pisum sativum L.). The reference genotype Cameor was chosen for this study. Sulfate was depleted at mid-vegetative stage and a moderate 9-day water stress period was imposed during the early reproductive phase, during which seed yield and quality are both established. For comparisons, control plants (well-watered, WW, in non-limiting sulfur conditions, S+) and plants subjected to individual stresses (water stress, WS, or sulfur-deficiency, S-) were grown in parallel. Developing seeds on the second flowering node, which encountered the combined stress throughout their early development (from 0 to 9 days after pollination), were harvested in the different conditions 9 days after pollination, and subjected to RNA-seq.