Physiological and transcriptomic analyses of Rosa persica in response to drought stress and functional validation of the transcription factor RpERF113-like

Physiological and transcriptomic analyses of Rosa persica in response to drought stress and functional validation of the transcription factor RpERF113-like | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Physiological and transcriptomic analyses of Rosa persica in response to drought stress and functional validation of the transcription factor RpERF113-like Na Li, Yang Cui, Yangfeng Liang, Xiaolong Zhang, Dong He, Shiyu Qin, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8933263/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rosa persica exhibits strong drought tolerance and represents a valuable parental resource for stress-resistance breeding in roses. To elucidate the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying drought stress responses, drought stress was imposed using a restricted irrigation regime, and drought-responsive traits were systematically investigated at the phenotypic, physiological, and molecular levels. Under drought stress, R. persica displayed leaf chlorosis, a significant reduction in leaf number, and decreased leaf thickness. At the physiological level, R. persica primarily alleviated drought-induced damage by accumulating osmotic adjustment substances and enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities. Transcriptome analysis identified numerous differentially expressed genes in response to drought stress. Furthermore, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified an RpERF113-like gene from the AP2/ERF family that is closely associated with drought stress response in R. persica . Functional characterization in Arabidopsis thaliana demonstrated that overexpression of RpERF113 - like significantly enhanced drought tolerance by promoting the accumulation of osmotic adjustment substances and activating the antioxidant defense system. Collectively, these findings provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying drought responses in R. persica. Rosa persica drought resistance AP2/ERFs transcription factor transcriptome Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial1.xlsx SupplementaryMaterial2.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 27 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 18 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 09 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 27 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 26 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 26 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8933263","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":604746446,"identity":"e1f29faf-3571-43a0-96a7-0b4e84f6a1fc","order_by":0,"name":"Na Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Na","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":604746447,"identity":"7e695db8-c9a9-4fd5-a44a-8cf2bab5186e","order_by":1,"name":"Yang Cui","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing Forestry 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To elucidate the molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying drought stress responses, drought stress was imposed using a restricted irrigation regime, and drought-responsive traits were systematically investigated at the phenotypic, physiological, and molecular levels. Under drought stress, \u003cem\u003eR. persica\u003c/em\u003e displayed leaf chlorosis, a significant reduction in leaf number, and decreased leaf thickness. At the physiological level, \u003cem\u003eR. persica\u003c/em\u003e primarily alleviated drought-induced damage by accumulating osmotic adjustment substances and enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities. Transcriptome analysis identified numerous differentially expressed genes in response to drought stress. 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