title: Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Mechanisms of Sterile and Fertile Flower Differentiation and Development inViburnum macrocephalumf.keteleeri.
abstract: Sterile and fertile flowers are an important evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) phenotype in angiosperm flowers, playing important roles in pollinator attraction and sexual reproductive success. However, the gene regulatory mechanisms underlying fertile and sterile flower differentiation and development remain largely unknown.Viburnum macrocephalumf.keteleeri, which possesses fertile and sterile flowers in a single inflorescence, is a useful candidate species for investigating the regulatory networks in differentiation and development. We developed ade novo-assembled flower reference transcriptome. Using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), we compared the expression patterns of fertile and sterile flowers isolated from the same inflorescence over its rapid developmental stages. The flower reference transcriptome consisted of 105,683 non-redundant transcripts, of which 5,675 transcripts showed significant differential expression between fertile and sterile flowers. Combined with morphological and cytological changes between fertile and sterile flowers, we identified expression changes of many genes potentially involved in reproductive processes, phytohormone signaling, and cell proliferation and expansion using RNA-seq and qRT-PCR. In particular, many transcription factors (TFs), including MADS-box family members and ABCDE-class genes, were identified, and expression changes in TFs involved in multiple functions were analyzed and highlighted to determine their roles in regulating fertile and sterile flower differentiation and development. Our large-scale transcriptional analysis of fertile and sterile flowers revealed the dynamics of transcriptional networks and potentially key components in regulating differentiation and development of fertile and sterile flowers inViburnum macrocephalumf.keteleeri. Our data provide a useful resource forViburnumtranscriptional research and offer insights into gene regulation of differentiation of diverse evo-devo processes in flowers.
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zhaogeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Weixing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiawen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University Yangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jin
keywords: Viburnum macrocephalum f. keteleeri; differentiation and development; fertile flower; gene expression; sterile flower; transcriptome