scholarly journals Integrating full-length transcriptomics and metabolomics reveals the regulatory mechanisms underlying yellow pigmentation in tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) flowers

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoning Luo ◽  
Daoyang Sun ◽  
Shu Wang ◽  
Sha Luo ◽  
Yaqi Fu ◽  
...  

AbstractTree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) is a popular ornamental plant in China due to its showy and colorful flowers. However, yellow-colored flowers are rare in both wild species and domesticated cultivars. The molecular mechanisms underlying yellow pigmentation remain poorly understood. Here, petal tissues of two tree peony cultivars, “High Noon” (yellow flowers) and “Roufurong” (purple–red flowers), were sampled at five developmental stages (S1–S5) from early flower buds to full blooms. Five petal color indices (brightness, redness, yellowness, chroma, and hue angle) and the contents of ten different flavonoids were determined. Compared to “Roufurong,” which accumulated abundant anthocyanins at S3–S5, the yellow-colored “High Noon” displayed relatively higher contents of tetrahydroxychalcone (THC), flavones, and flavonols but no anthocyanin production. The contents of THC, flavones, and flavonols in “High Noon” peaked at S3 and dropped gradually as the flower bloomed, consistent with the color index patterns. Furthermore, RNA-seq analyses at S3 showed that structural genes such as PsC4Hs, PsDFRs, and PsUFGTs in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway were downregulated in “High Noon,” whereas most PsFLSs, PsF3Hs, and PsF3’Hs were upregulated. Five transcription factor (TF) genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis were also upregulated in “High Noon.” One of these TFs, PsMYB111, was overexpressed in tobacco, which led to increased flavonols but decreased anthocyanins. Dual-luciferase assays further confirmed that PsMYB111 upregulated PsFLS. These results improve our understanding of yellow pigmentation in tree peony and provide a guide for future molecular-assisted breeding experiments in tree peony with novel flower colors.

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanting Chang ◽  
Tao Hu ◽  
Wenbo Zhang ◽  
Lin Zhou ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrew) is a popular ornamental plant due to its large, fragrant and colorful flowers. The floral development is the most important event in its lifecycle. To explore the mechanism that regulate flower development, we sequenced the flower bud transcriptomes of ‘High Noon’, a reblooming cultivar of P. suffruticosa × P. lutea, using both full-length isoform-sequencing (ISO-seq) and RNA-seq were sequenced. A total of 15.94 Gb raw data were generated in full-length transcriptome sequencing of the 3 floral developmental stages, resulting 0.11 M protein-coding transcripts. Over 457.0 million reads were obtained by RNA-seq in the 3 floral buds. Here, we openly released the full-length transcriptome database of ‘High Noon’ and RNA-seq database of floral development. These databases can provide a fundamental genetic information of tree peony to investigate its transcript structure, variants and evolution. Data will facilitate to deep analyses of the transcriptome for flower development.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoning Luo ◽  
Sha Luo ◽  
Yaqi Fu ◽  
Chen Kong ◽  
Kai Wang ◽  
...  

MicroRNA (miRNA)-mediated gene regulation is involved in various physiological processes in plants. Flower color is one of the vital ornamental traits of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.). However, the yellow-flowered tree peony cultivars are particularly rare. To elucidate the miRNA-mediated gene regulatory mechanism underlying yellow pigmentation in tree peony, we combined pigment assessment, miRNA identification, expression analysis, and gene functional verification in two contrasting flower color cultivars “High Noon” and “Roufurong.” Flavones/flavonols and anthocyanins were found to be the main contributors to the coloration of “High Noon” and “Roufurong” petals, respectively. Subsequently, miRNA analysis based on available genome data identified 9 differentially expressed miRNAs and 12 relevant target genes implicated in flavonoid biosynthesis. Their dynamic expression patterns determined the key role of mdm-miR156b-PsSPL2 module in yellow pigmentation of tree peony flowers. The sequence analysis and subcellular localization validated that PsSPL2 might function as a nuclear-localized transcription factor. Overexpression of PsSPL2 in tobacco resulted in a decrease of anthocyanin content and down-regulation of NtF3′H and NtDFR transcripts. PsSPL2-silenced petals exhibited lighter yellow color, and the contents of THC, Ap, and Ch decreased significantly. Meanwhile, expression levels of PsCHS, PsCHI, and PsF3H were significantly decreased in the petals with PsSPL2 silencing, while those of PsF3′H and PsDFR were remarkably increased. This study offers a novel insight into yellow pigmentation-related miRNA regulation network in tree peony, and further provides the valuable information on physiological changes during yellow coloring process of tree peony.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Guo ◽  
Tongli Wang ◽  
Fang-Fang Fu ◽  
Yousry A. El-Kassaby ◽  
Guibin Wang

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.) is a high-value medicinal tree species characterized by its flavonoids beneficial effects that are abundant in leaves. We performed a temporospatial comprehensive transcriptome and metabolome dynamics analyses of clonally propagated Ginkgo plants at four developmental stages (time: May to August) across three different environments (space) to unravel leaves flavonoids biosynthesis variation. Principal component analysis revealed clear gene expression separation across samples from different environments and leaf-developmental stages. We found that flavonoid-related metabolism was more active in the early stage of leaf development, and the content of total flavonoid glycosides and the expression of some genes in flavonoid biosynthesis pathway peaked in May. We also constructed a co-expression regulation network and identified eight GbMYBs and combining with other TF genes (3 GbERFs, 1 GbbHLH, and 1 GbTrihelix) positively regulated the expression of multiple structural genes in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. We found that part of these GbTFs (Gb_11316, Gb_32143, and Gb_00128) expressions was negatively correlated with mean minimum temperature and mean relative humidity, while positively correlated with sunshine duration. This study increased our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of flavonoids biosynthesis in Ginkgo leaves and provided insight into the proper production and management of Ginkgo commercial plantations.


2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-gai HOU ◽  
Juan WANG ◽  
Da-long GUO ◽  
Gai-xiu LIU ◽  
Hui-li MA ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisajan Mamat ◽  
Kuerban Tusong ◽  
Juan Xu ◽  
Peng Yan ◽  
Chuang Mei ◽  
...  

AbstractKorla pear (Pyrus sinkiangensis Yü) is a landrace selected from a hybrid pear species in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in China. In recent years, pericarp roughening has been one of the major factors that adversely affects fruit quality. Compared with regular fruits, rough-skin fruits have a greater stone cell content. Stone cells compose sclerenchyma tissue that is formed by secondary thickening of parenchyma cell walls. In this work, we determined the main components of stone cells by isolating them from the pulp of rough-skin fruits at the ripening stage. Stone cell staining and apoptosis detection were then performed on fruit samples that were collected at three different developmental stages (20, 50 and 80 days after flowering (DAF)) representing the prime, late and stationary stages of stone cell differentiation, respectively. The same batches of samples were used for parallel transcriptomic and proteomic analysis to identify candidate genes and proteins that are related to SCW biogenesis in Korla pear fruits. The results showed that stone cells are mainly composed of cellulose (52%), hemicellulose (23%), lignin (20%) and a small amount of polysaccharides (3%). The periods of stone cell differentiation and cell apoptosis were synchronous and primarily occurred from 0 to 50 DAF. The stone cell components increased abundantly at 20 DAF but then decreased gradually. A total of 24,268 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 1011 differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs) were identified from the transcriptomic and proteomic data, respectively. We screened the DEGs and DAPs that were enriched in SCW-related pathways, including those associated with lignin biosynthesis (94 DEGs and 31 DAPs), cellulose and xylan biosynthesis (46 DEGs and 18 DAPs), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) metabolic processes (10 DEGs and 3 DAPs), apoplastic ROS production (16 DEGs and 2 DAPs), and cell death (14 DEGs and 6 DAPs). Among the identified DEGs and DAPs, 63 significantly changed at both the transcript and protein levels during the experimental periods. In addition, the majority of these identified genes and proteins were expressed the most at the prime stage of stone cell differentiation, but their levels gradually decreased at the later stages.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 909
Author(s):  
Anyela Valentina Camargo Rodriguez

Senescence is the final stage of leaf development and is critical for plants’ fitness as nutrient relocation from leaves to reproductive organs takes place. Although senescence is key in nutrient relocation and yield determination in cereal grain production, there is limited understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control it in major staple crops such as wheat. Senescence is a highly orchestrated continuum of interacting pathways throughout the lifecycle of a plant. Levels of gene expression, morphogenesis, and phenotypic development all play key roles. Yet, most studies focus on a short window immediately after anthesis. This approach clearly leaves out key components controlling the activation, development, and modulation of the senescence pathway before anthesis, as well as during the later developmental stages, during which grain development continues. Here, a computational multiscale modelling approach integrates multi-omics developmental data to attempt to simulate senescence at the molecular and plant level. To recreate the senescence process in wheat, core principles were borrowed from Arabidopsis Thaliana, a more widely researched plant model. The resulted model describes temporal gene regulatory networks and their effect on plant morphology leading to senescence. Digital phenotypes generated from images using a phenomics platform were used to capture the dynamics of plant development. This work provides the basis for the application of computational modelling to advance understanding of the complex biological trait senescence. This supports the development of a predictive framework enabling its prediction in changing or extreme environmental conditions, with a view to targeted selection for optimal lifecycle duration for improving resilience to climate change.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 794
Author(s):  
Luca M. Scolari ◽  
Robert D. Hancock ◽  
Pete E. Hedley ◽  
Jenny Morris ◽  
Kay Smith ◽  
...  

‘Crumbly’ fruit is a developmental disorder in raspberry that results in malformed and unsaleable fruits. For the first time, we define two distinct crumbly phenotypes as part of this work. A consistent crumbly fruit phenotype affecting the majority of fruits every season, which we refer to as crumbly fruit disorder (CFD) and a second phenotype where symptoms vary across seasons as malformed fruit disorder (MFD). Here, segregation of crumbly fruit of the MFD phenotype was examined in a full-sib family and three QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) were identified on a high density GbS (Genotype by Sequencing) linkage map. This included a new QTL and more accurate location of two previously identified QTLs. A microarray experiment using normal and crumbly fruit at three different developmental stages identified several genes that were differentially expressed between the crumbly and non-crumbly phenotypes within the three QTL. Analysis of gene function highlighted the importance of processes that compromise ovule fertilization as triggers of crumbly fruit. These candidate genes provided insights regarding the molecular mechanisms involved in the genetic control of crumbly fruit in red raspberry. This study will contribute to new breeding strategies and diagnostics through the selection of molecular markers associated with the crumbly trait.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Haoyun Sun ◽  
Tao Xu ◽  
Tianye Shi ◽  
Zongyun Li ◽  
...  

Eggplant is one of the most important vegetables worldwide. Prickles on the leaves, stems and fruit calyxes of eggplant may cause difficulties during cultivation, harvesting and transportation, and therefore is an undesirable agronomic trait. However, limited knowledge about molecular mechanisms of prickle morphogenesis has hindered the genetic improvement of eggplant. In this study, we performed the phenotypic characterization and transcriptome analysis on prickly and prickleless eggplant genotypes to understand prickle development at the morphological and molecular levels. Morphological analysis revealed that eggplant prickles were multicellular, lignified and layered organs. Comparative transcriptome analysis identified key pathways and hub genes involved in the cell cycle as well as flavonoid biosynthetic, photosynthetic, and hormone metabolic processes during prickle development. Interestingly, genes associated with flavonoid biosynthesis were up-regulated in developing prickles, and genes associated with photosynthesis were down-regulated in developing and matured prickles. It was also noteworthy that several development-related transcription factors such as bHLH, C2H2, MYB, TCP and WRKY were specifically down- or up-regulated in developing prickles. Furthermore, four genes were found to be differentially expressed within the Pl locus interval. This study provides new insights into the regulatory molecular mechanisms underlying prickle morphogenesis in eggplant, and the genes identified might be exploited in breeding programs to develop prickleless eggplant cultivars.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 226
Author(s):  
Siying Fu ◽  
Yujie Duan ◽  
Siqi Wang ◽  
Yipeng Ren ◽  
Wenjun Bu

Riptortus pedestris (Hemiptera: Alydidae) is a major agricultural pest in East Asia that causes considerable economic losses to the soybean crop each year. However, the molecular mechanisms governing the growth and development of R. pedestris have not been fully elucidated. In this study, the Illumina HiSeq6000 platform was employed to perform de novo transcriptome assembly and determine the gene expression profiles of this species across all developmental stages, including eggs, first-, second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-instar nymphs, and adults. In this study, a total of 60,058 unigenes were assembled from numerous raw reads, exhibiting an N50 length of 2126 bp and an average length of 1199 bp, and the unigenes were annotated and classified with various databases, such as the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), and Gene Ontology (GO). Furthermore, various numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were calculated through pairwise comparisons of all life stages, and some of these DEGs were associated with immunity, metabolism, and development by GO and KEGG enrichment. In addition, 35,158 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and 715,604 potential single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified from the seven transcriptome libraries of R. pedestris. Finally, we identified and summarized ten wing formation-related signaling pathways, and the molecular properties and expression levels of five wing development-related genes were analyzed using quantitative real-time PCR for all developmental stages of R. pedestris. Taken together, the results of this study may establish a foundation for future research investigating developmental processes and wing formation in hemimetabolous insects and may provide valuable data for pest control efforts attempting to reduce the economic damage caused by this pest.


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