Transcriptome Profiling Reveals Differences in Key Genes between Wheat Genotypes with Contrasting Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in Response to Nitrogen Deficiency

However, different crops have different responses to LN stress, and the regulatory mechanisms involved remain unclear. Comparative transcriptomic of wheat genotypes with contrasting NUE is a strategy to reveal the genetic mechanism of wheat in response to LN stress.

In this study, we employed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to investigate the difference between the transcriptome profiles of two wheat genotypes differing in NUE under different N treatments. The results indicated that wheat with high and low NUE genotypes exhibited different gene expression patterns under LN conditions. To identify potential key genes, we classify these N-responsive genes into two major categories: pre-expressed genes and stress-expressed genes.