De novo transcriptome sequencing and comparative analysis to discover genes related to floral development inCymbidium faberiRolfe.
Cymbidium faberiis a traditional orchid flower in China that is highly appreciated for its fragrant aroma from its zygomorphic flowers. One bottleneck of the commercial production ofC.faberiis the long vegetative growth phase of the orchid and the difficulty of the regulation of its flowering time. Moreover, its flower size, shape and color are often targeting traits for orchid breeders. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of floral development inC.faberiwill ultimately benefit the genetic improvement of this orchid plant. The goal of this study is to identify potential genes and regulatory networks related to the floral development inC.faberiby using transcriptome sequencing, de novo assembly and computational analyses. The vegetative and flower buds ofC.faberiwere sampled for such comparisons. The RNA-seq yielded about 189,300 contigs that were assembled into 172,959 unigenes. Furthermore, a total of 13,484 differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were identified between the vegetative and flower buds. There were 7683 down-regulated and 5801 up-regulated DEGs in the flower buds compared to those in the vegetative buds, among which 3430 and 6556 DEGs were specifically enriched in the flower or vegetative buds, respectively. A total of 173 DEGs orthologous to known genes associated with the floral organ development, floral symmetry and flowering time were identified, including 12 TCP transcription factors, 34 MADS-box genes and 28 flowering time related genes. Furthermore, expression levels of ten genes potentially involved in floral development and flowering time were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. The identified DEGs will facilitate the functional genetic studies for further understanding the flower development ofC.faberi.
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Yuying
Y
Sun
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Guangdong
G
Wang
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Yuxia
Y
Li
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Li
L
Jiang
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Yuxia
Y
Yang
Department of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095 China.
Shuangxue
S
Guan
Cymbidium faberi Rolfe; Flower development; Flowering; Genes; RNA-seq