{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T19:18:07Z","timestamp":1787944687664,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787875200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Scientific Research Project of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","award":["2025YL035"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025YL035"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010696","name":"Special Agricultural Research Project of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["XJBS-202417"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XJBS-202417"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010696","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"China Agriculture Research System for Potato","award":["CARS-09-ES10"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-09-ES10"]}]},{"name":"Agricultural Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Project of Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","award":["2026ZH008"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026ZH008"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biomolecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) seedlings are highly sensitive to freezing temperatures, which severely impairs growth and causes substantial losses in tuber yield and quality. This study aimed to screen freezing-tolerant potato germplasm accessions, identify candidate genes involved in the freezing response, and provide elite parental materials and a theoretical reference for molecular breeding of freezing-tolerant cultivars. We evaluated seedling freezing tolerance of 73 potato accessions using the freezing damage index (FDI), and performed transcriptome sequencing on leaf samples from highly freezing-tolerant (HT) accession 15-1881 and highly freezing-susceptible (HS) accession B8 following freezing treatment. Substantial variation in freezing tolerance was observed across the germplasm panel, with 5 HT accessions and 12 HS accessions identified, showing marked phenotypic and physiological differences under freezing stress. Transcriptomic analysis detected 6560 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in 15-1881 and 5161 DEGs in B8, with 3558 DEGs specific to 15-1881. The phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway exhibited noticeable expression divergence between 15-1881 and B8, harboring 17 15-1881-specific DEGs including three tandem phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) genes. The HT germplasm accessions obtained in this study provide breeding resources for freezing-tolerant potato improvement, and the PAL genes characterized here represent promising candidate genes associated with freezing response in potato.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biom16091249","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T18:33:52Z","timestamp":1787942032000},"page":"1249","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Germplasm Screening and Transcriptome Profiling Identify Phenylpropanoid Biosynthesis-Related PAL Candidate Genes Associated with Freezing Tolerance in Potato"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Yuwei","family":"Ge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Qianqian","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yuying","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Tingting","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Huajun","family":"Liao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Chongchong","family":"Yan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Vegetables, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230001, China"},{"name":"The Key Laboratory of Horticultural Crop Germplasm Creation and Utilization (Jointly Built by MARA and Anhui Province), Hefei 230001, China"},{"name":"The Key Laboratory of Horticultural Crop Germplasm Creation and Efficient Cultivation of Anhui Province, Hefei 230001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jare.2024.10.033","article-title":"Biofortification of potato nutrition","volume":"75","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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