Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal phytohormone signaling mechanisms underlying differential regeneration potential in microspore-derived calli from hulled and hulless barley

作者：Runhong Gao, Guimei Guo, Yingjie Zong, Wenqi Zhang, Longhua Zhou, Hongwei Xu, YJ Li, Chenghong Liu · 发表于：BMC Plant Biology · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1186/s12870-026-09535-1 · 研究领域：Plant tissue culture and regeneration、Plant Molecular Biology Research、Transgenic Plants and Applications

BACKGROUND: Isolated microspore culture (IMC) is an effective model for investigating plant cell totipotency and is widely used in plant breeding programs to rapidly produce doubled haploid lines. However, the limited regeneration capacity of hulless barely restricts the broader application of IMC in breeding improvement and research. RESULTS: In this study, two hulled barley genotypes (Hua30 and L07) exhibiting high regeneration capability and two hulless barley genotypes (Zangqing2000 and Ximala22) with poor regeneration capability were selected to comparatively evaluate the regeneration potential of microspore-derived calli generated via IMC through integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. The regeneration capability of the two hulled genotypes exceeded 200 green plantlets per 100 mg microspore-derived callus, whereas that of the hulless genotypes was nearly absent. A total of 2,647 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 128 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified in microspore-derived callus from hulled genotypes relative to hulless genotypes. Integrative analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets indicated that phytohormone signaling pathways play a central role in regulating regeneration competence acquisition. Hulled barley exhibited enhanced hormonal homeostasis and comparatively lower levels of jasmonic acid (JA) and brassinosteroids (BR), which are critical determinants of regeneration capacity in microspore calli. The ex...