Genome-wide digital transcript analysis of putative fruitlet abscission related genes regulated by ethephon in litchi

作者：Caiqin Li, Yan Wang, Peiyuan Ying, Wuqiang Ma, Jianguo Li · 发表于：Frontiers in Plant Science · 年份：2015 · DOI：10.3389/fpls.2015.00502 · 被引用次数：79 · 研究领域：Plant Physiology and Cultivation Studies、Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life Management、Horticultural and Viticultural Research

The high level of physiological fruitlet abscission in litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) causes severe yield loss. Cell separation occurs at the fruit abscission zone (FAZ) and can be triggered by ethylene. However, a deep knowledge of the molecular events occurring in the FAZ is still unknown. Here, genome-wide digital transcript abundance (DTA) analysis of putative fruit abscission related genes regulated by ethephon in litchi were studied. More than 81 million high quality reads from seven ethephon treated and untreated control libraries were obtained by high-throughput sequencing. Through DTA profile analysis in combination with Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses, a total of 2730 statistically significant candidate genes were involved in the ethephon-promoted litchi fruitlet abscission. Of these, there were 1867 early-responsive genes whose expressions were up- or down-regulated from 0 to 1 d after treatment. The most affected genes included those related to ethylene biosynthesis and signaling, auxin transport and signaling, transcription factors (TFs), protein ubiquitination, ROS response, calcium signal transduction, and cell wall modification. These genes could be clustered into four groups and 13 subgroups according to their similar expression patterns. qRT-PCR displayed the expression pattern of 41 selected candidate genes, which proved the accuracy of our DTA data. Ethephon treatment significantly increased fruit abscission and ethylene production of f...