Transcriptomic response of the wild plant Mesembryanthemum forsskalii Hochst. ex Boiss to salinity stress: de novo assembly, functional annotation, and tran

Abstract

Halophytes such as Mesembryanthemum forsskalii Hochst. ex Boiss. are well-adapted to harsh environments characterized by high salinity and drought, offering both nutritional and medicinal benefits. However, the genetic and molecular basis of salinity tolerance in M. forsskalii remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to generate novel genomic resources and identify the genes, pathways, and transcriptional regulators associated with salt stress tolerance. Plant samples were treated with NaCl at 150 mM and 400 mM, resulting in transcriptomic sequencing yielding over 50 million reads for each concentration. Differential expression gene (DEG) analysis revealed 5,606 and 665 significantly upregulated and downregulated genes, respectively, in plants irrigated with 150 mM NaCl (C vs S1), while 10,730 DEGs were identified under 400 mM NaCl (C vs S2), of which 9,970 were upregulated and 760 downregulated. De novo assembly indicated that a substantial proportion of transcripts encoded novel or functionally unknown proteins. Approximately 29 % and 21 % of transcripts under 150 and 400 mM NaCl were functionally annotated in UniProt, GO, and KEGG databases. The most enriched molecular functions included manganese ion binding and oxidoreductase activity. Transcription factor families such as bHLH, NAC and MYB-related family proteins were highly represented. These findings will support salinity research.