Transcriptome analysis of gibberellins and abscisic acid during the flooding response in Fokienia hodginsii

Flooding is one of the main abiotic stresses suffered by plants. Plants respond to flooding stress through regulating their morphological structure, endogenous hormone biosynthesis, and genetic signaling transduction. We previously found that Fokienia hodginsii varieties originating from Gutian exhibited typical flooding tolerance traits compared to three other provenances (Yongzhou, Sanming, Nanping), expressed as increased height, longer diameter at breast height (DBH), and smaller branch angle. Herein, the changes in endogenous gibberellins (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) contents were measured under flooding stress in F. hodginsii, and ABA was found to decrease, whereas GA increased with time. Furthermore, the GA and ABA contents of the varieties originating from Gutian and the three other provenances were measured, and the results indicated that F. hodginsii from Gutian could respond more rapidly to flooding stress. The transcriptomes of the varieties originating from Gutian and the other three provenances were compared using RNA sequencing to explore the underlying genetic mechanisms of the flood-resistant phenotypes in F. hodginsii. The results indicated that two flood-stress response genes (TRINITY_DN142_c0_g2 and TRINITY_DN7657_c0_g1) were highly related to both the ABA and GA response in F. hodginsii.