Extensive Post-Transcriptional Regulation Revealed by Transcriptomic and Proteomic Integrative Analysis in Cassava under Drought

Cassava is a major tropical/subtropical
food crop and its yield
is greatly restrained by drought; however, the mechanism underlying
the drought stress remains largely unknown. In this study, totally
1242 and 715 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), together with
237 and 307 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), were respectively
identified in cassava leaves and roots through RNA-seq and iTRAQ techniques.
The majority of DEGs and DEPs were exclusively regulated at the mRNA
and protein level, respectively, whereas only a few were commonly
regulated, indicating the major involvement of post-transcriptional
regulation under drought. Subsequently, the functions of these specifically
or commonly regulated DEGs and DEPs were analyzed, and the post-transcriptional
regulation of genes involved in heat shock protein, secondary metabolism
biosynthesis, and hormone biosynthesis was extensively discussed.
This is the first report on an integration of transcriptomic and proteomic
analysis in cassava, and it provides new insights into the post-transcriptional
regulation of cassava drought stress.