title: UFGT: The Key Enzyme Associated with the Petals Variegation in Japanese Apricot.
abstract: Japanese apricot (Prunus mumeSieb.et Zucc.) is an important ornamental plant in China. One of the traits of petals color variegation is attractive, but its formation mechanism is unclear. In our study, RNA-seq technology was employed to characterize the transcriptome response to the mutation of "Fuban Tiaozhi" associated with petals variegation in Japanese apricot. As a result, 4,579,040 (white-flowered, WF) and 7,269,883 (red-flowered, RF) reads were mapped toP. persicagenes, while 5,006,676 (WF) and 7,907,436 (RF) were mapped toP. persicagenomes. There were 960 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified. Gene ontology analysis showed that these genes involved in 37 functional groups including 19 biological processes, 10 cellular components and eight molecular functions. Pathway enrichment annotation demonstrated that highly ranked genes were associated with flavonoid biosynthesis, anthocyanin biosynthesis, anthocyanins transports, plant hormone signal transduction, and transcriptional factors. The expression patterns part of them were validated by qRT-PCR. We found that UDP-glucose: flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) gene showed differential expression pattern. The UFGT enzyme activities in RF had a significantly higher than that of WF and lower in the initial stage and increased when the red appeared in the petals, which is identical to the accumulation of anthocyanins. And we also validated the SNPs, leading to the nonsynonymous mutations, in theUFGTby Sanger sequencing which may affect the enzyme activity. In summary, our results provide molecular candidates for better understanding the mechanisms of the variegation in Japanese Apricot.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fruit Tree Biotechnology, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjing, China; Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crop Genetic ImprovementNanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xinxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: The Administration Bureau of Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fruit Tree Biotechnology, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fruit Tree Biotechnology, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Fruit Tree Biotechnology, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: Japanese apricot; RNA-seq; UFGT; anthocyanins content; enzyme activity; nonsynonymous mutation; transcriptome analysis; variegation