Transcriptome Sequencing of Agave amaniensis Reveals Shoot-Related Expression Patterns of Expansin A Genes in Agave

Abstract

Agave species are widely planted for fiber production. However, the molecular basis of agave fiber development has not been well understood. In this study, we performed a transcriptomic analysis in A. amaniensi, a well-known variety with high-quality fiber production. Approximately 43.87 million clean reads were obtained using Illumina sequencing. The de novo assembly produced 66,746 unigrams, 54% of which were annotated in a public database. In the Nr database, 21,490 unigenes of A. amaniensis were shown to be most closely related to Asparagus officinalis. Nine expansin A orthologs with full coding regions were obtained, which were named EXP1a, EXP1b, EXP2, EXP3, EXP4a, EXP4b, EXP11, EXP12, and EXP13. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree revealed the species-specific expansion of expansin genes in Arabidopsis, rice and agave. The expression analysis suggested the negative correlation between the expression of expansin genes and the leaf growth rate, except AhEXP11. Moreover, expansin genes were differentially affected by abiotic and biotic stresses. Notably, AhEXP2 expression level was highly upgraded after the infection of Phytophthora nicotiana. Nutrient deficiency also influent expansin genes expression. Together, our research will benefit future studies related to fiber development, disease resistance and nutrient usage in agave.

Transcriptome analysis reveals molecular mechanisms underlying chloroplast biogenesis in albino Agave angustifolia plantlets

“…Transcriptomic analyses across albino models have uncovered critical insights into the metabolic and physiological alterations these plants undergo, particularly within chloroplasts. A range of genes, both plastome and nuclear‐encoded, have been pinpointed as central to chloroplast differentiation control – this includes photoreceptors, transcription factors, and various genes that act as modulators of photomorphogenesis, photosynthesis, among others (Satou et al, 2014, Grübler et al, 2017, Li et al, 2017, Shi et al, 2017, Li et al, 2018, Wang et al, 2020, Yan et al, 2022). Our transcriptome analysis of Agave albino plantlets delves into the intricacies of plastid development and differentiation within this specific in vitro model.…”

“…Another essential group of genes studied includes those encoding PPR proteins, which participate in chloroplast post-transcriptional regulation (Wang et al, 2023). The analysis of six PPR genes (PPR10, HCF152, PGR3, PPR103, PPR5 and GUN1) revealed four overexpressed in AL tissue (PPR103, GUN1, PPR10_2 and _3) and four in AM tissue (GUN1, PPR103, HCF152 and PPR10_1) (Figures 3 and 8).…”