Open Access

ARTICLE

Physiological Dynamics and Transcriptomic Analysis of Cut Roses ‘Carola’ Treated with KNO

by Songmei Liu, Yuheng Wu, Hongmei Li, Dongli Cai, Huiling Liang, Changchun Ye, Shenggen He^*

College of Agriculture & Biology, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou, 510225, China

* Corresponding Author: Shenggen He. Email:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(12), 3267-3290. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.045453

Received 27 August 2023; Accepted 08 October 2023; Issue published 28 December 2023

Abstract

The consumption of cut roses (Rosa hybrida) has always ranked first in the world. However, it is vulnerable to rapid petal and leaf wilting due to leaf stomatal water loss, which seriously affects its ornamental quality and economic value. Stomatal movement, a key in plant physiological processes, is influenced by potassium and nitrate. Advancing comprehension of its physiological and molecular mechanism holds promise for preserving the freshness of cut roses. This study observed the impacts of different concentrations of KNO₃ vase treatments on stomatal opening and water loss in cut rose ‘Carola’ leaves, as well as their transcriptional responses to KNO₃. Water loss rates were influenced by KNO₃ concentrations, with the 25 and 75 mmol/L treatments exhibiting the highest water loss rates. The stomatal aperture reached its widest value when treated with 75 mmol/L KNO₃. Transcriptional sequencing analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of which 5456 were up-regulated, and 6607 were down-regulated associated with photosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, metabolic pathways, plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone signal transduction, and related pathways. 246 DEGs were selected related to response to KNO₃ treatment, of which gene ontology (GO) enrichment were nitrate and terpenoid metabolism, ion transport, and response to stimuli. Further heatmap analysis revealed that several genes related to nitrate transport a metabolism, K⁺ transport, vacuoles, and aquaporin were in close association with the response to KNO₃ treatment. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) revealed that hub genes, including LAX2, TSJT1, and SCPL34 were identified in turquoise, black, and darkgreen module. Transcription factors such as NAC021, CDF3, ERF053, ETR2, and ARF6 exhibited regulatory roles in the response to KNO₃ treatment under light conditions. These findings provide valuable insights into the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the response of cut rose leaves to KNO₃ treatment.

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Keywords

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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