Transcriptome Analysis and Gene Expression Profiling of the Peanut Small Seed Mutant Identified Genes Involved in Seed Size Control.

Seed size is a key factor affecting crop yield and a major agronomic trait concerned in peanut ( L.) breeding. However, little is known about the regulation mechanism of peanut seed size. In the present study, a peanut () was identified through irradiating peanut cultivar Luhua11 (LH11) using Coγ ray. Since the globular embryo stage, the embryo size of was significantly smaller than that of LH11. The dry seed weight of was only 39.69% of the wild type LH14. The seeds were wrinkled with darker seed coat. The oil content of seeds were also decreased significantly. Seeds of and LH11 were sampled 10, 20, and 40 days after pegging (DAP) and were used for RNA-seq. The results revealed that genes involved in plant hormones and several transcription factors related to seed development were differentially expressed at all three stages, especially at DAP10 and DAP20. Genes of fatty acid biosynthesis and late embryogenesis abundant protein were significantly decreased to compare with LH11. Interestingly, the gene profiling data suggested that and/or could be the key candidate genes leading to the small seed phenotype of the mutant. Our results provide valuable clues for further understanding the mechanisms underlying seed size control in peanut.