Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 819-0395, Fukuoka, Japan.
Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 980-8578, Sendai, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 13;9(1):4325. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39608-1.
Recent advances in molecular and genetic studies about flowering time control have been increasingly available to elucidate the physiological mechanism underlying masting, the intermittent and synchronized production of a large amount of flowers and seeds in plant populations. To identify unexplored developmental and physiological processes associated with masting, genome-wide transcriptome analysis is a promising tool, but such analyses have yet to be performed. We established a field transcriptome using a typical masting species, Japanese beech (Fagus crenata Blume), over two years, and analyzed the data using a nonlinear time-series analysis called convergent cross mapping. Our field transcriptome was found to undergo numerous changes depending on the status of floral induction and season. An integrated approach of high-throughput transcriptomics and causal inference was successful at detecting novel causal regulatory relationships between nitrate transport and florigen synthesis/transport in a forest tree species. The synergistic activation of nitrate transport and floral transition could be adaptive to simultaneously satisfy floral transition at the appropriate timing and the nitrogen demand needed for flower formation.
近年来，关于开花时间控制的分子和遗传研究进展越来越多，这有助于阐明植物种群中大量花朵和种子间歇性和同步产生的生理机制，即结实。为了确定与结实相关的未被探索的发育和生理过程，全基因组转录组分析是一种很有前途的工具，但尚未进行此类分析。我们使用典型的结实物种日本山毛榉（Fagus crenata Blume）在两年内建立了一个野外转录组，并使用称为收敛交叉映射的非线性时间序列分析来分析数据。我们的野外转录组发现，根据花诱导和季节的状态，会发生许多变化。在一种森林树种中，高通量转录组学和因果推理的综合方法成功地检测到硝酸盐运输和成花素合成/运输之间新的因果调节关系。硝酸盐运输和花转变的协同激活可能是适应性的，可以同时满足花转变的适当时间和形成花朵所需的氮需求。
