Transcriptome analysis of canola (Brassica napus) under salt stress at the germination stage

Canola (Brassica napus) is one of the most important oil crops in the world. However, its yield has been constrained by salt stress. In this study, transcriptome profiles were explored using Digital Gene Expression (DGE) at 0, 3, 12 and 24 hours after H2O (control) and NaCl treatments on B. napus roots at the germination stage. Comparisons of gene-expression between the control and the treatment were conducted after tag-mapping to the sequenced Brassica rapa genome. The differentially expressed genes during the time course of salt stress were focused on, and 163 genes were identified to be differentially expressed at all the time points. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses revealed that some of the genes were involved in proline metabolism, inositol metabolism, carbohydrate metabolic processes and oxidation-reduction processes and may play vital roles in the salt-stress response at the germination stage. Thus, this study provides new candidate salt stress responding genes, which may function in novel putative nodes in the molecular pathways of salt stress resistance.