Jiangxi Agricultural University, Jiangxi, Nanchang, China.
Jiangxi Agricultural Engineering College, Jiangxi, Zhangshu, China.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 31;16(3):e0248962. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0248962. eCollection 2021.
Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) could promote the opening of sorghum florets, but the molecular mechanism remains unclear.
We aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of exogenous MeJA in promoting the opening of sorghum florets.
Hybrid sorghum Aikang-8 was selected as the test material in this study. Sorghum plants of uniform growth with approximately 20%-25% florets open were selected and treated with 0, 0.5 and 2.0 mmol/L of MeJA. Totally there were 27 samples with lodicules removed were obtained at different time points and used for the transcriptome analysis using the BGISEQ_500RS platform.
The results showed the sorghum florets opened earlier than the control after the treatment with exogenous MeJA, and the promotive effect increased along with the increase of exogenous MeJA concentration. The number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in plasma cells increased with the increase of MeJA concentration, whether up- or down-regulated, after the exogenous MeJA treatment. Besides, the number of metabolic pathways was also positively correlated with the concentration of MeJA. GO and KEGG analysis suggested the DEGs were mainly enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism-related pathways (i.e., LOC8063704, LOC8083539 and LOC8056206), plant hormone signal transduction pathways (i.e., LOC8084842, LOC8072010, and LOC8057408), energy metabolic pathway (i.e., LOC8076139) and the α-linolenic acid metabolic pathway (i.e., LOC8055636, LOC8057399, LOC8063048 and LOC110430730). Functional analysis of target genes showed that two genes named LOC-1 (LOC8063704) and LOC-2 (LOC8076139) could induce the earlier flowering of Arabidopsis thaliana.
The results of this study suggest that exogenous MeJA treatments could induce the up- or down- regulation of genes related to starch and sucrose metabolism, -linolenic acid metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction pathways in the plasma cells of sorghum florets, thereby promoting the opening of sorghum florets.
茉莉酸甲酯（MeJA）可以促进高粱颖花的开放，但分子机制尚不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨外源 MeJA 促进高粱颖花开放的分子机制。
选用杂交高粱品种爱康 8 号为试验材料，选取生长一致、约有 20%-25%颖花开放的高粱植株，用 0、0.5 和 2.0mmol/L 的 MeJA 进行处理。分别在不同时间点，取去浆片的 27 个样品，采用 BGISEQ_500RS 平台进行转录组分析。
结果表明，外源 MeJA 处理后，高粱颖花比对照提前开放，且促进作用随外源 MeJA 浓度的增加而增加。在添加外源 MeJA 后，质体细胞中差异表达基因（DEGs）的数量随着 MeJA 浓度的增加而增加，无论是上调还是下调。此外，代谢途径的数量也与 MeJA 的浓度呈正相关。GO 和 KEGG 分析表明，DEGs 主要富集在淀粉和蔗糖代谢相关途径（LOC8063704、LOC8083539 和 LOC8056206）、植物激素信号转导途径（LOC8084842、LOC8072010 和 LOC8057408）、能量代谢途径（LOC8076139）和α-亚麻酸代谢途径（LOC8055636、LOC8057399、LOC8063048 和 LOC110430730）。靶基因功能分析表明，两个名为 LOC-1（LOC8063704）和 LOC-2（LOC8076139）的基因可以诱导拟南芥提前开花。
本研究结果表明，外源 MeJA 处理可以诱导高粱颖花质体细胞中与淀粉和蔗糖代谢、α-亚麻酸代谢和植物激素信号转导途径相关的基因上调或下调，从而促进高粱颖花的开放。
