Key Codonopsis pilosula Seedlings Drought-Responsive Genes and Pathways Revealed by Comparative Transcriptome

To unravel the molecular mechanisms underpinning Codonopsis pilosula drought stress tolerance, we conducted comprehensive comparative transcriptome and physiological analyses of two C. pilosula cultivars that had been exposed to drought treatment for four days. The test cultivars of C. pilosula were Weidang No. 1 (Q2/W1), a variety promoted in Dingxi, Gansu Province (the seed was obtained from the Dry Farming Research and Promotion Center of Dingxi, Gansu Province), and Gandang No. 1 (Q4/G1), a cultivar selected by the group of Yuan Chen and Feng-xia Guo of Gansu Agricultural University. All were naturally shade-dried seeds harvested in the same year.