Zhejiang Institute of Subtropical Crops, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wenzhou 325005, China.
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, College of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100107, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 14;24(4):3792. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043792.
Hua is a traditional Chinese herb propagated using rhizomes, and excessive demand for seedlings and quality deterioration caused by rhizome propagation has highlighted that seed propagation may be an ideal solution to address these issues. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in Hua seed germination and emergence stages are not well understood. Therefore, in the present study, we performed transcriptomics combined with hormone dynamics during different seed germination stages, and 54,178 unigenes with an average length of 1390.38 bp (N50 = 1847 bp) were generated. Significant transcriptomic changes were related to plant hormone signal transduction and the starch and carbohydrate pathways. Genes related to ABA(abscisic acid), IAA(Indole acetic acid), and JA(Jasmonic acid) signaling, were downregulated, whereas genes related to ethylene, BR(brassinolide), CTK(Cytokinin), and SA(salicylic acid) biosynthesis and signaling were activated during the germination process. Interestingly, GA biosynthesis- and signaling-related genes were induced during the germination stage but decreased in the emergence stage. In addition, seed germination significantly upregulated the expression of genes associated with starch and sucrose metabolism. Notably, raffinose biosynthesis-related genes were induced, especially during the emergence stage. In total, 1171 transcription factor (TF) genes were found to be differentially expressed. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying Hua seed germination and emergence processes and further research for molecular breeding.
花是一种通过根茎繁殖的传统中草药，对种苗的大量需求以及根茎繁殖导致的种苗质量下降，突出表明种子繁殖可能是解决这些问题的理想方法。然而，花种子萌发和出苗阶段涉及的分子机制尚不清楚。因此，在本研究中，我们进行了转录组学分析，并结合不同种子萌发阶段的激素动态变化，生成了 54178 条平均长度为 1390.38bp 的 unigenes（N50=1847bp）。显著的转录组变化与植物激素信号转导以及淀粉和碳水化合物途径有关。ABA（脱落酸）、IAA（吲哚乙酸）和 JA（茉莉酸）信号相关基因下调，而与乙烯、BR（油菜素内酯）、CTK（细胞分裂素）和 SA（水杨酸）生物合成和信号转导相关的基因在萌发过程中被激活。有趣的是，GA（赤霉素）生物合成和信号相关基因在萌发阶段被诱导，但在出苗阶段减少。此外，种子萌发显著上调了与淀粉和蔗糖代谢相关的基因表达。值得注意的是，在萌发和出苗阶段，棉子糖生物合成相关基因被诱导。总共发现了 1171 个差异表达的转录因子（TF）基因。我们的研究结果为花种子萌发和出苗过程的分子机制提供了新的见解，并为进一步的分子育种研究提供了参考。
