De novo transcriptome assemblies of four accessions of the metal hyperaccumulator plant Noccaea caerulescens

Noccaea caerulescens of the Brassicaceae family has become the key model plant among the metal hyperaccumulator plants. Populations/accessions of N. caerulescens from geographic locations with different soil metal concentrations differ in their ability to hyperaccumulate and hypertolerate metals. Comparison of transcriptomes in several accessions provides candidates for detailed exploration of the mechanisms of metal accumulation and tolerance and local adaptation. This can have implications in the development of plants for phytoremediation and improved mineral nutrition. Transcriptomes from root and shoot tissues of four N. caerulescens accessions with contrasting Zn, Cd and Ni hyperaccumulation and tolerance traits were sequenced with Illumina Hiseq2000. Transcriptomes were assembled using the Trinity de novo assembler and were annotated and the protein sequences predicted. The comparison against the BUSCO plant early release dataset indicated high-quality assemblies. The predicted protein sequences have been clustered into ortholog groups with closely related species. The data serve as important reference sequences in whole transcriptome studies, in analyses of genetic differences between the accessions and other species, and for primer design.