Peanut leaf transcriptomic dynamics reveals insights into the acclimation response to elevated carbon dioxide under semiarid conditions

Authors: LAZA, HAYDEE - Texas Tech University; BHATTARAI, BISHWOYOG - University Of Missouri; VENUGOPAL, MENDU - Montana State University; BUROW, MARK - Texas Tech University; Emendack, Yves; Sanchez, Jacobo; GUPTA, AARTI - Texas Tech University; ABDELRAHMAN, MOSTAFA - Texas Tech University; TRAN, SON - Texas Tech University; TISSUE, DAVID - Western Sydney University; Payton, Paxton

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2024
Publication Date: 3/27/2025
Citation: Laza, H., Bhattarai, B., Venugopal, M., Burow, M., Emendack, Y., Sanchez, J., Gupta, A., Abdelrahman, M., Tran, S., Tissue, D., Payton, P.R. 2025. Peanut leaf transcriptomic dynamics reveals insights into the acclimation response to elevated carbon dioxide under semiarid conditions. Frontiers in Plant Science. 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1407574.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1407574

Interpretive Summary: Peanuts are primarily cultivated in semiarid and arid regions and represent a significant global source of protein and lipids. Like most C3 plants, it expected yield benefit from rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration under limited soil water availability may be diminished under extreme weather events, including high temperatures. To understand how peanut under semiarid and arid regions will react to the combine effect of increase CO2 and drought, a collaborative research including scientists from ARS, Texas Tech University, Montana State University, and Western Sydney University in Australia, investigated the mechanisms peanut will employ to sustain productivity in feature climates, by looking at the activities of the genes involve. Several yield determining regulatory mechanisms were identified which could be helpful to the peanut research community in understanding and mitigating peanut productivity in feature climates under semiarid and arid conditions.

Technical Abstract: Elevated carbon dioxide [CO2] increases peanut’s carbon assimilation and productivity. However, the molecular basis of such responses needs to be better understood. We tested the hypothesis that maintaining high photosynthesis under long-term elevated [CO2] is associated with the shift in C metabolism gene expression regulation. We used the dynamic CO2 enrichment system in the field to examine the effects of elevated [CO2] (ambient + 250 ppm) across different soil water availability and plant developmental stages on the molecular responses in peanuts. Plants under both [CO2] treatments were grown in semiarid conditions (no well-watered treatment). We evaluated a comparative leaf transcriptomic profile across three periodic water deficit/re-hydration cycles throughout the growing season using RNA-Seq analysis. Our results showed that the transcriptome responses were influenced by [CO2], water availability, and developmental stages. The traditional Mercator annotation analysis based on % total revealed that lipid metabolism, hormone biosynthesis, secondary metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, and transport were the most regulated biological processes. However, our new approach based on the comparative relative % change per individual category across stages reveals new insights, highlighting the relevance of the C-related pathways regulated by elevated [CO2]. The photosynthesis analysis showed that 1) the light reaction was the most up-regulated pathway by [CO2] during water stress; 2) photorespiration was downregulated across all stages, 3).