Based on transcriptional and chromatin accessibility analysis revealing hulless barley response to powdery mildew stress
[Objective]The study aimed to investigate the effects of powdery mildew stress on gene expression and chromatin accessibility in hulless barley,and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying hulless barley's response to this stress.[Method]Two hulless barley va-rieties,GND7(powdery mildew-resistant)and ZQ13(powdery mildew-sensitive),were exposed to powdery mildew infection and a control treatment(using water instead of infection).Leaf samples were then collected for transcriptome and chromatin accessibility sequencing to i-dentify differentially expressed genes and differentially accessible regions.[Result]In ZQ13,1647 differentially expressed genes were found,comprising 980 upregulated and 667 downregulated genes during infection.Chromatin accessibility analysis revealed 7310 differentially ac-cessible regions,with 424 regions showing increased accessibility and 6886 regions showing decreased accessibility after infection.In GND7,1119 differentially expressed genes were identified,with 657 upregulated expression and 462 downregulated expression.Chromatin accessi-bility analysis indicated 2573 differentially accessible regions,with 1343 regions showing increased and 1230 regions showing decreased ac-cessibility post-infection.Key genes,such as the AP2/ERF transcription factor(HOVUSG2735700)and MYB1R1 transcription factor(HO-VUSG4226000),were identified through integrated transcriptome and chromatin accessibility analyses.[Conclusion]Hulless barley exhibits significant alterations in gene expression and chromatin accessibility in response to powdery mildew infection.AP2/ERF transcription factor(HOVUSG2735700)and MYB1R1 transcription factor(HOVUSG4226000)may play crucial roles in the plant's response to powdery mildew stress.