scholarly journals Molecular Mechanism Underlying Derepressed Male Production in Hexaploid Persimmon

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanae Masuda ◽  
Naoko Fujita ◽  
Ho-Wen Yang ◽  
Koichiro Ushijima ◽  
Yasutaka Kubo ◽  
...  

Sex expression in plants is often flexible and contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity within a species. In diploid persimmons (the genus Diospyros), the sexuality is controlled by the Y chromosome-encoded small-RNA gene, OGI, and its autosomal counterpart, MeGI. Hexaploid Oriental persimmon (Diospyros kaki) evolved more flexible sex expression, where genetically male individuals carrying OGI can produce both male and female flowers (monoecy). This is due to (semi-)inactivation of OGI by the Kali-SINE retrotransposon insertion on the promoter region and the resultant DNA methylations. Instead, flower sex determination in Oriental persimmon is also dependent on DNA methylation states of MeGI. Here, we focused on a cultivar, Kumemaru, which shows stable male flower production. Our results demonstrated that cv. Kumemaru carries OGI with Kali-SINE, which was highly methylated as well as in other monoecious cultivars; nevertheless, OGI gene could have a basal expression level. Transcriptomic analysis between cv. Kumemaru and 14 cultivars that predominantly produce female flowers showed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) specific to cv. Kumemaru, which is mainly involved in stress responses. Co-expression gene networks focusing on the DEGs also suggested the involvement of stress signals, mainly via gibberellin (GA), salicylic acid (SA), and especially jasmonic acid (JA) signal pathways. We also identified potential regulators of this co-expression module, represented by the TCP4 transcription factor. Furthermore, we attempted to identify cv. Kumemaru-specific transcript polymorphisms potentially contributing to derepressed OGI expression by cataloging subsequences (k-mers) in the transcriptomic reads from cv. Kumemaru and the other 14 female cultivars. Overall, although the direct genetic factor to activate OGI remains to be solved, our results implied the involvement of stress signals in the release of silenced OGI and the resultant continuous male production.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdoul Amir Rahnama ◽  
Esmaeil Rahkhodaei

Date palm is unisexual, being either male or female. Male and female flowers grow on buds called Spathe, which opens naturally when fully mature. It is easy to identify the male and female flowers. Under the method of manual pollination, pollen from a male flower is smeared over female flowers. The pollen variety and pollination time have important effects on date palm fruit set, yield and quality. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of date pollinizer variety and pollination time on fruit set, growth and development of Medjhol date palm variety, in date palm garden of date palm and tropical fruit research institute of Iran during three years from 2009 to 2011. The trail was randomized complete block design in factorial manner with three pollen variety as Ghaname, Vardy, and Samesmave, two pollination time as 1-3 days before or after spathe opening and four replication. The results showed that the Vardy pollen had significant effects and increased the fertility percent and fruit yield, rather than two other pollen varieties. The pollen variety had no significant effects on fruit quality as total sugar, acidity, and bricx. The pollination time before spathe opening significantly increased fertility percent, decreased fruit weight and date palm yield. Finally the pollen variety and pollination time interaction effects showed that, application of Vardy pollen from 1-3 days after spathe opening with the most production date palm yield, equal 19.9 kilogram per any date palm trees, so this treatment is the best and are recommended.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1261
Author(s):  
Péter Pálfi ◽  
László Bakacsy ◽  
Henrietta Kovács ◽  
Ágnes Szepesi

Hypusination is a unique posttranslational modification of eIF5A, a eukaryotic translation factor. Hypusine is a rare amino acid synthesized in this process and is mediated by two enzymes, deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH). Despite the essential participation of this conserved eIF5A protein in plant development and stress responses, our knowledge of its proper function is limited. In this review, we demonstrate the main findings regarding how eIF5A and hypusination could contribute to plant-specific responses in growth and stress-related processes. Our aim is to briefly discuss the plant-specific details of hypusination and decipher those signal pathways which can be effectively modified by this process. The diverse functions of eIF5A isoforms are also discussed in this review.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Zhao ◽  
Song Chen ◽  
Wenjing Yao ◽  
Zihan Cheng ◽  
Boru Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The bZIP gene family, which is widely present in plants, participates in varied biological processes including growth and development and stress responses. How do the genes regulate such biological processes? Systems biology is powerful for mechanistic understanding of gene functions. However, such studies have not yet been reported in poplar. Results In this study, we identified 86 poplar bZIP transcription factors and described their conserved domains. According to the results of phylogenetic tree, we divided these members into 12 groups with specific gene structures and motif compositions. The corresponding genes that harbor a large number of segmental duplication events are unevenly distributed on the 17 poplar chromosomes. In addition, we further examined collinearity between these genes and the related genes from six other species. Evidence from transcriptomic data indicated that the bZIP genes in poplar displayed different expression patterns in roots, stems, and leaves. Furthermore, we identified 45 bZIP genes that respond to salt stress in the three tissues. We performed co-expression analysis on the representative genes, followed by gene set enrichment analysis. The results demonstrated that tissue differentially expressed genes, especially the co-expressing genes, are mainly involved in secondary metabolic and secondary metabolite biosynthetic processes. However, salt stress responsive genes and their co-expressing genes mainly participate in the regulation of metal ion transport, and methionine biosynthetic. Conclusions Using comparative genomics and systems biology approaches, we, for the first time, systematically explore the structures and functions of the bZIP gene family in poplar. It appears that the bZIP gene family plays significant roles in regulation of poplar development and growth and salt stress responses through differential gene networks or biological processes. These findings provide the foundation for genetic breeding by engineering target regulators and corresponding gene networks into poplar lines.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (11) ◽  
pp. 1203-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena Ashworth ◽  
Leonardo Galetto

In dioecious and monoecious plants that depend on animal vectors for reproduction, pollinators have to be attracted to male and female flowers for pollination to be effective. In the monoecious Cucurbita maxima ssp. andreana, male flowers are produced in greater quantity, are spatially more exposed to pollinators and offer pollen in addition to nectar as floral rewards. Nectar traits were compared between male and female flowers to determine any differences in the characteristics of the main reward offered to pollinators. Nectar chemical composition and sugar proportions were similar between flower types. Total nectar sugar production per female flower was threefold higher than per male flower, and nectar removal did not have any effect on total nectar production in both flower morphs. Pollinators reduced nectar standing crops to similar and very scarce amounts in both flower types. Results indicate indirectly that pollinators are consuming more nectar from female flowers, suggesting that the higher nectar production in female flowers may be a reward-based strategy to achieve the high female reproductive output observed in this species.Key words: Cucurbitaceae, Cucurbita maxima ssp. andreana, nectar production, nectar sugar composition, removal effects, standing crop.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz KARAKAYA ◽  
Hüseyin PADEM

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of silver nitrate (AgNO3) on the flower quantity of cucumbers. The seeds used in this study, which was carried out in a plastic greenhouse, in the Gazi village of Antalya Province (Turkey) the during spring and autumn 2005 breeding periods, were ‘Mostar F1’ (designated as ‘GND1’) and ‘Vesco Seeds Beith Alpha F1 (26.50 F1)’, designated as ‘GND2’ and those are the types having common production. The silver nitrate application was performed by the method of spraying on the growth tips of plants and 0, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 ppm silver nitrate doses were administered. The research was conducted with 4 repetitions having 5 plants in each repetition according to the Random Parcel Trial Pattern. In order to determine the effects of the applications, the effects of a number of female flowers and male flowers on generative characteristics of planting periods (spring and fall) were identified and the results were statistically evaluated. According to the results obtained in this research, AgNO3 has led to the formation of male flowers (no male flower formation in control), has increased the number of male flowers, and has led to a decrease in the number of female flowers. The increase in the number of male flowers varied according to the periods (in ‘GND2’).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liwei Zheng ◽  
Yingli Yang ◽  
Shengjie Ma ◽  
Wenming Wang ◽  
Jimeng Zhang ◽  
...  

Brassinosteroid signaling downstream genes regulate many important agronomic traits in rice. However, information on such genes is limited in Arabidopsis and Rosaceae species. We identified these genes in Arabidopsis and nine Rosaceae species. They were, respectively, named based on chromosomal locations. Segmental duplication and whole-genome duplication under purifying selection, as determined by Ka/Ks analysis, likely contributed to Rosaceae gene expansion. Apple (Malus domestica), Arabidopsis, and rice genes were generally similar, while several Rosaceae genes differed from their rice homologs in various characteristics, such as gene length, subcellular localization, transmembrane topology, conserved domains, secondary structures, and responses to external signals. The brassinosteroid downstream genes in apple were, respectively, induced or repressed by five phytohormones. Furthermore, these apple downstream genes were differentially expressed in different apple grafting combinations (“Nagafu No. 2”/“Malling 9” and “Nagafu No. 2”/“Nagafu No. 2”) and long–short shoot varieties (“Yanfu No. 6” and “Nagafu No. 2”). Responses of the MdBZR genes to diverse stress signals were examined and candidate hub genes were identified. These findings indicated that several brassinosteroid signaling downstream genes in Rosaceae functionally differed from their rice homologs, and certain apple genes may play roles in plant height and stress responses. This study provided valuable information and presented enriched biological theories on brassinosteroid signaling downstream genes in apple. Identification of such genes serve to help expand apple breeding and growth. This study provides useful information for brassinosteroid signaling downstream genes.


PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2071 ◽  
Author(s):  
María de Lourdes Adriano-Anaya ◽  
Edilma Pérez-Castillo ◽  
Miguel Salvador-Figueroa ◽  
Sonia Ruiz-González ◽  
Alfredo Vázquez-Ovando ◽  
...  

Sex expression and floral morphology studies are central to understand breeding behavior and to define the productive potential of plant genotypes. In particular, the new bioenergy cropJatropha curcasL. has been classified as a monoecious species. Nonetheless, there is no information about its reproductive diversity in the Mesoamerican region, which is considered its center of origin and diversification. Thus, we determined sex expression and floral morphology inJ. curcaspopulations from southern Mexico and Guatemala. Our results showed that most ofJ. curcasspecimens had typical inflorescences with separate sexes (monoecious); meanwhile, the rest were atypical (gynoecious, androecious, andromonoecious, androgynomonoecious). The most important variables to group these populations, based on a discriminant analysis, were: male flower diameter, female petal length and male nectary length. From southern Mexico “Guerrero” was the most diverse population, and “Centro” had the highest variability among the populations from Chiapas. A cluster analysis showed that the accessions from southern Mexico were grouped without showing any correlation with the geographical origin, while those accessions with atypical sexuality were grouped together. To answer the question of how informative are floral morphological traits compared to molecular markers, we perform a Mantel correlation test between the distance matrix generated in this study and the genetic distance matrix (AFLP) previously reported for the same accessions. We found significant correlation between data at the level of accessions. Our results contribute to design genetic improvement programs by using sexually and morphologically contrasting plants from the center of origin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 180 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaojiang Zuo ◽  
Sarathi M. Weraduwage ◽  
Alexandra T. Lantz ◽  
Lydia M. Sanchez ◽  
Sean E. Weise ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-412
Author(s):  
Shoko Nakamura ◽  
Shunsuke Yamamoto ◽  
Nobuo Sawamura ◽  
Aoi Nikkeshi ◽  
Shigeki Kishi ◽  
...  

Abstract Most common cultivars of Oriental (or Japanese) persimmon, Diospyros kaki Thunb. (Ericales: Ebenaceae), set mostly female flowers and require pollen from male flowers of other cultivars for pollination. Growers often introduce the European honeybee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), into their orchards to promote pollination. Here, we investigated the pollination effectiveness of A. mellifera for D. kaki ‘Saijo,’ by monitoring flower visitors, analyzing pollen grains on bees’ body surfaces, and comparing the number of mature seeds in fruits among years with different pollinator availabilities. Apis mellifera and the bumblebee Bombus ardens ardens Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae) were the major visitors for 3 years, although their dominance varied among years. The number of mature seeds was positively correlated with the number of B. ardens ​ardens visiting D. kaki flowers, but not with that of A. mellifera. Apis mellifera might be less efficient because visitors to female flowers carried significantly fewer pollen grains on their body surfaces than those of B. ardens ​ardens. Analysis of pollen loads of honeybees captured at their nest entrance suggested their preference for red clover, Trifolium pratense L. (Fabales: Fabaceae), and Toxicodendron spp. (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae), over D. kaki as a pollen source in our study site. The effectiveness of A. mellifera on D. kaki pollination should be carefully evaluated considering the effects of coexisting floral and pollinator species.


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