Transcriptome profiling provides new insights into florets number difference of inflorescence in lavandula angustifolia

Abstract

Background Lavender flowers essential oil had been for a variety of therapeutic and cosmetic purposes, and had been popular for centuries. The previous studies of lavender mainly focused on essential oil composition and extraction methods, ignoring the factors which affected the production of essential oils, such as the floret number. This study aims to get a deeper insight into florets number difference mechanism. Results Hormone profile showed positive correlation between ABA content and the number of florets while IAA was negatively correlated. RNA-Seq results showed that 2848 differentially expressed genes screened by comparing different florets samples in one plant. By analyzing dynamic changes of differentially expressed genes, many potentially interesting genes were identified that encoded putative regulators or key components of ABA metabolism and signaling transduction, such as NCED, PYL, PP2C, SnRK2. These genes were highlighted to reveal their importance in regulation of florets numbers. Conclusions 1. The different ABA concentrations lead to florets difference in the Lavandula angustifolia “JX-2” clusters; 2. ABA may affect the florets number by regulating IAA transport and accumulation. The results will be useful for a better understanding of the molecular mechanism on florets number difference that could be laid the foundation for molecular breeding of muti-flortes varieties.