Differential gene expression between the vigorous and dwarf litchi cultivars based on RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis

Abstract

Litchi (Litchi chinesis Sonn.) is the most economically significant member of Sapindaceae family, especially in sub-tropical regions. However, its tall tree body often brings many inconveniences to production management. In order to modify the tree size or growth for productivity optimization and simplifying management, it is urgent to reveal the dwarf mechanism of litchi for dwarfing rootstocks or cultivar breeding. However, to date, the mechanisms on litchi dwarfism is still poor known. In the present study, transcriptome profiling were performed on L. chinensis cv. ‘Feizixiao’ (FZX, vigorous cultivar) and ‘Ziniangxi’ (ZNX, dwarf cultivar). A total of 55,810 unigenes were obtained, and 9,190 unigenes were differentially expressed between vigorous and dwarf litchi samples. Gene functional enrichment analysis indicated that the differentially expressed unigenes (DEGs) were related to phytohormone metabolism and signal transduction, and energy metabolism pathways. In particular, GA2ox were only up-regulated in ZNX samples, indicating GA might play an important role in regulating huge difference between vigorous and dwarf litchi cultivars. In addition, the 35S::LcGA2ox transgenic tobacco plants were dwarf and had smaller leaves or branches than wild type plants. Our study provided a series of candidate genes to reveal the mechanism of litchi dwarf.

Targeted Metabolic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Pinus yunnanensis var. pygmaea with Loss of Apical Dominance

“…Differential expression of GA2ox is considered to be a determinant of plant height in various plants. GA2ox were only up-regulated in dwarf cultivar litchi samples, indicating GA might play an important role in regulating difference between vigorous and dwarf cultivars [ 46 ]. GA2ox for GA and tryptophan decarboxylase ( TDC ) and YUCCA for IAA were the most associated with plant height in banana [ 28 ].…”