mRNA-Seq Reveals a Comprehensive Transcriptome Profile of Rice under Phosphate Stress

Plants have developed several morphological and physiological strategies to adapt to phosphate stress. We analyzed the inducible transcripts associated with phosphate starvation and over-abundant phosphate supply to characterize the transcriptome in rice seedlings using the mRNA-Seq strategy. Fifty-three million reads obtained from 16 libraries under various phosphate stress and recovery treatments were uniquely mapped to the rice genome. Transcripts identified specifically tagged to 40,574 (root) and 39,748 (shoot) Rice Annotation Project (RAP) transcripts. Additionally, we detected uniquely 10,388 transcripts with no match to any RAP transcript. These transcripts that showed specific response to Pi stress include those without ORFs that may act as non-protein coding transcripts. With an accompanying browser of the transcriptome under Pi stress, a deeper understanding of the structural and functional features of both annotated and unannotated Pi stress-responsive transcripts can provide useful information in improving Pi acquisition and utilization in rice and other cereal crops.