title: Bamboo Flowering from the Perspective of Comparative Genomics and Transcriptomics.
abstract: Bamboos are an important member of the subfamily Bambusoideae, family Poaceae. The plant group exhibits wide variation with respect to the timing (1-120 years) and nature (sporadic vs. gregarious) of flowering among species. Usually flowering in woody bamboos is synchronous across culms growing over a large area, known as gregarious flowering. In many monocarpic bamboos this is followed by mass death and seed setting. While in sporadic flowering an isolated wild clump may flower, set little or no seed and remain alive. Such wide variation in flowering time and extent means that the plant group serves as repositories for genes and expression patterns that are unique to bamboo. Due to the dearth of available genomic and transcriptomic resources, limited studies have been undertaken to identify the potential molecular players in bamboo flowering. The public release of the first bamboo genome sequencePhyllostachys heterocycla, availability of related genomesBrachypodium distachyonandOryza sativaprovide us the opportunity to study this long-standing biological problem in a comparative and functional genomics framework. We identified bamboo genes homologous to those ofOryzaandBrachypodiumthat are involved in established pathways such as vernalization, photoperiod, autonomous, and hormonal regulation of flowering. Additionally, we investigated triggers like stress (drought), physiological maturity and micro RNAs that may play crucial roles in flowering. We also analyzed available transcriptome datasets of different bamboo species to identify genes and their involvement in bamboo flowering. Finally, we summarize potential research hurdles that need to be addressed in future research.
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomics Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Prasun
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomics Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Sukanya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomics Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Smritikana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Amita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.affiliation: Plant Genomics Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Malay
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Das
keywords: bamboo; drought; flowering pathways; future research; genes; plant age