摘要:Nematodes and drought are major constraints in tropical agriculture and often occur simultaneously. Plant responses to these stresses are complex and require crosstalk between biotic and abiotic signaling pathways. In this study, we explored the transcriptome data of wild
Arachis species subjected to drought (A-metaDEG) and the root-knot nematode
Meloidogyne arenaria (B-metaDEG) via meta-analysis, to identify core-stress responsive genes to each individual and concurrent stresses in these species. Transcriptome analysis of a nematode/drought bioassay (cross-stress) showed that the set of stress responsive DEGs to concurrent stress is distinct from those resulting from overlapping A- and B-metaDEGs, indicating a specialized and unique response to combined stresses in wild
Arachis. Whilst individual biotic and abiotic stresses elicit hormone-responsive genes, most notably in the jasmonic and abscisic acid pathways, combined stresses seem to trigger mainly the ethylene hormone pathway. The overexpression of a cross-stress tolerance candidate gene identified here, an endochitinase-encoding gene (
AsECHI) from
Arachis stenosperma, reduced up to 30% of
M. incognita infection and increased post-drought recovery in
Arabidopsis plants submitted to both stresses. The elucidation of the network of cross-stress responsive genes in
Arachis contributes to better understanding the complex regulation of biotic and abiotic responses in plants facilitating more adequate crop breeding for combined stress tolerance.