Transcriptome profiling of salt stress responses during germination and early seedling stage in wheat

Soil salinity represents a pivotal abiotic stress that constrains crop productivity globally and jeopardizes food security. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a staple cereal widely cultivated, is vulnerable to salt stress, most critically during early developmental phases including seed germination and seedling establishment. To elucidate the molecular basis of salt adaptation in wheat, we applied weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to transcriptomes from salt-stressed germinating embryos and seedlings, revealing a highly conserved turquoise module associated with salinity responses across both developmental stages.