Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China.
Horticulture & landscape college, Hunan Agricultural University, Furong District, Changsha City, Hunan Province 410128, People's Republic of China.
Genome. 2021 Aug;64(8):777-788. doi: 10.1139/gen-2020-0122. Epub 2021 Feb 4.
Spinach ( L.) is commonly considered a dioecious plant with heterogametic (XY) and homogametic (XX) sex chromosomes. The characteristic is also utilized for the production of spinach hybrid seeds. However, the molecular mechanisms of sex determination in spinach are still unclear because of a lack of genomic and transcriptomic information. In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed in male and female inflorescences to provide insight into the molecular basis of sex determination in spinach. Comparative transcriptome analyses showed that 2278 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between male and female inflorescences. A high correlation between the RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR validation for DEGs was observed. Among these, 182 DEGs were annotated to transcription factors including the MYB family protein, bHLH family, and MADS family, suggesting these factors might play a vital role in sex determination. Moreover, 26 DEGs related to flower development, including nine ABCE class genes, were detected. Expression analyses of hormone pathways showed that brassinosteroids may be key hormones related to sex determination in spinach. Overall, this study provides a large amount of DEGs related to sexual expression and lays a foundation for unraveling the regulatory mechanism of sex determination in spinach.
菠菜（L.）通常被认为是一种雌雄异株植物，具有异型（XY）和同型（XX）性染色体。该特性还用于生产菠菜杂交种子。然而，由于缺乏基因组和转录组信息，菠菜性别决定的分子机制仍不清楚。在这项研究中，对雄性和雌性花序进行了 RNA 测序（RNA-seq），以深入了解菠菜性别决定的分子基础。比较转录组分析表明，在雄性和雌性花序之间鉴定出了 2278 个差异表达基因（DEG）。观察到 DEG 的 RNA-Seq 和 qRT-PCR 验证之间具有高度相关性。其中，182 个 DEG 被注释为转录因子，包括 MYB 家族蛋白、bHLH 家族和 MADS 家族，表明这些因子可能在性别决定中发挥重要作用。此外，检测到与花发育相关的 26 个 DEG，包括九个 ABCE 类基因。激素途径的表达分析表明，油菜素内酯可能是与菠菜性别决定相关的关键激素。总体而言，这项研究提供了大量与性表达相关的 DEG，为揭示菠菜性别决定的调控机制奠定了基础。
