Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA.
Grain Quality and Structure Research Unit, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, USDA-ARS, 1515 College Ave, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA.
Commun Biol. 2024 Jul 10;7(1):841. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06525-7.
Cereal seeds are vital for food, feed, and agricultural sustainability because they store and provide essential nutrients to human and animal food and feed systems. Unraveling molecular processes in seed development is crucial for enhancing cereal grain yield and quality. We analyze spatiotemporal transcriptome and metabolome profiles during sorghum seed development in the inbred line 'BTx623'. Morphological and molecular analyses identify the key stages of seed maturation, specifying starch biosynthesis onset at 5 days post-anthesis (dpa) and protein at 10 dpa. Transcriptome profiling from 1 to 25 dpa reveal dynamic gene expression pathways, shifting from cellular growth and embryo development (1-5 dpa) to cell division, fatty acid biosynthesis (5-25 dpa), and seed storage compounds synthesis in the endosperm (5-25 dpa). Network analysis identifies 361 and 207 hub genes linked to starch and protein synthesis in the endosperm, respectively, which will help breeders enhance sorghum grain quality. The availability of this data in the sorghum reference genome line establishes a baseline for future studies as new pangenomes emerge, which will consider copy number and presence-absence variation in functional food traits.
谷类种子是食物、饲料和农业可持续性的重要基础，因为它们储存并为人类和动物的食物和饲料系统提供必需的营养。解析种子发育过程中的分子机制对于提高谷类粮食的产量和质量至关重要。我们分析了自交系“BTx623”中高粱种子发育过程中的时空转录组和代谢组图谱。形态和分子分析确定了种子成熟的关键阶段，明确淀粉生物合成始于授粉后 5 天（dpa），蛋白质合成始于 10 dpa。1 至 25 dpa 的转录组分析揭示了动态的基因表达途径，从细胞生长和胚胎发育（1-5 dpa）转变为细胞分裂、脂肪酸生物合成（5-25 dpa）以及胚乳中种子储存化合物的合成（5-25 dpa）。网络分析确定了 361 个和 207 个与胚乳中淀粉和蛋白质合成相关的枢纽基因，这将有助于培育者提高高粱的粮食质量。在新的泛基因组出现时，这些数据在高粱参考基因组系中的可用性为未来的研究建立了一个基准，这些研究将考虑功能食品性状的拷贝数和存在-缺失变异。
