Objective Populus tomentosa is a perennial woody plant. Because of its fixed growth pattern, P. tomentosa may under long-term stress. Oxidative stress is a common way of abiotic stress, which has been studied in many researches. However, there are few reports on the transcriptional level of P. tomentosa as a material. The transcriptome data were used to investigate the effects of breaking the balance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) on the growth and development of suspension cells of P. tomentosa.

Method In this study, the suspension cell lines of P. tomentosa were treated with hydrogen peroxide. The morphological and gene expression differences of mitochondria were observed and analyzed by confocal laser microscopy and transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq).

Result Through the analysis of transcriptome data, 806 differentially expressed genes (P < 0.001 and |log2ratio| > 1) were identified, of which 449 differentially expressed genes were down-regulated and 357 differentially expressed genes were up-regulated. These differential genes involve cell division, cytokinin activation, gibberellin regulation and phosphorylation pathways. Mitochondrial morphology of P. tomentosa under oxidative stress was observed using mitochondrial specific dyes and laser confocal microscopy. The results showed that the mitochondria were mostly vermiform under oxidative stress.

Conclusion By analyzing cell transcriptome data under oxidative stress, the effects of oxidative stress on plant growth and development were revealed at RNA level, which provided a theoretical basis for the study of plant stress response and growth and development.