Fig. 7. TaPGK enhanced wheat cold tolerance possibly through promoting the accumulation of pyruvate content.

(A) The expression of 7 key glycolytic genes identified by transcriptome sequencing (n = 10). (B-D) Relative transcript levels of 4 glycolytic genes (TaGAPC, TaPGM, TaENO, and TaPK) in the mutants, overexpressed plants, and gene-edited (GE) lines of TaPGK and their corresponding controls after cold stress. (E) Exogenous pyruvate (10 mM) significantly enhanced wheat cold tolerance in TaPGK EMS mutants and TaPGK-edited lines (n = 6) after cold stress. (F) Putative model of TaSRT1-TaPGK in response to cold stress in wheat. The experiments were conducted with three biological replicates. Values are presented as mean ± SE. **P < 0.01, as determined by paired Student’s t tests. TaHK, hexokinase; TaPHI, phosphohexose isomerase; TaPFK1, phosphofructokinase l; TaFBA, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase; TaTPI, triose phosphate isomerase; TaGAPC, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; TaPGM, phosphoglycerate mutase; TaENO, enolase; TaPK, pyruvate kinase; G-6-P, glucose-6-phosphate; F-6-P, fructose-6-phosphate; F-1,6-P₂, fructose-1,6- diphosphate; DHAP, dihydroxyacetone phosphate; GA-3-P, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate; 1,3-BisPGAP, 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate; 3-PGA, 3-phosphoglycerate; 2-PGA, 2-phosphoglycerate; PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate.