Genome-wide analysis reveals four key transcription factors associated with cadmium stress in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.)

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity seriously affects the growth and development of plants, so studies on uptake, translocation, and accumulation of Cd in plants are crucial for phytoremediation. However, the molecular mechanism of the plant response to Cd stress remains poorly understood. The main objective of this study was to reveal differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under lower (BT2-5) and higher (BT43) Cd concentration treatments in creeping bentgrass. A total of 463,184 unigenes were obtained from creeping bentgrass leaves using RNA sequencing technology. Observation of leaf tissue morphology showed that the higher Cd concentration damages leaf tissues. Four key transcription factor (TF) families, WRKY, bZIP, ERF, and MYB, are associated with Cd stress in creeping bentgrass. Our findings revealed that these four TFs play crucial roles during the creeping bentgrass response to Cd stress. This study is mainly focused on the molecular characteristics of DEGs under Cd stress using transcriptomic analysis in creeping bentgrass. These results provide novel insight into the regulatory mechanisms of respond to Cd stress and enrich information for phytoremediation.