Zhang Man, Jiang Yuan, Dong Haixiao, Shan Xiaohui, Chen Hao, Li Xueying, Wang Chunlong, Ba Sangpingcuo, Li Junwei, Guo Laichun, Yuan Yaping, Ren Changzhong
Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Jilin Province, Baicheng Academy of Agricultural Science, Baicheng, 137000, China.
Jilin Engineering Research Center for Crop Biotechnology Breeding, College of Plant Science, Jilin University, Changchun, 130000, China.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 May 10;25(1):622. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06648-x.
Insensitivity to day length is an essential trait for oat cultivation and its geographical spread to a wide range of latitudes. Daylength-insensitive oat cultivars can flower normally from low to high latitudes and may be especially well suited for a double-cropping system. However, few studies have investigated the regulatory mechanisms involved in flowering in photoperiod-insensitive oats.
In this study, we compared the developmental stages of shoot apical meristems (SAMs) and transcriptome profiles between the photoperiod-insensitive oat cultivar VAO-8 and the photoperiod-sensitive oat cultivar Baiyan 2 at four time points under a short-day photoperiod. The development of Baiyan 2 was affected by short-day length, and SAMs persisted in the vegetative stage. VAO-8 responded less to photoperiod and matured normally under a short-day photoperiod. Comparative transcriptome data of the two cultivars revealed a total of 824, 1,189, 646 and 1,145 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between VAO-8 and Baiyan 2 at four time points. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that metabolic processes related to chlorophyll biosynthesis, photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism and the secondary metabolism were significantly enhanced in VAO-8 compared with those in Baiyan 2. The upregulated genes involved in these processes may contribute to the flowering of VAO-8 under a short-day photoperiod. Furthermore, the differential expression of 93 transcription factor genes involved in multiple flowering pathways was observed, and these genes may play important roles in the regulation of VAO-8 flowering.
The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the photoperiod-insensitive molecular mechanism of oats at the transcriptional level under a short-day photoperiod, which lay a foundation for breeding photoperiod-insensitive oat cultivars.
对日照长度不敏感是燕麦种植及其向广泛纬度地区地理传播的一项重要特性。对日长不敏感的燕麦品种能够在从低纬度到高纬度地区正常开花，可能特别适合于双季种植系统。然而，很少有研究调查对日长不敏感燕麦开花过程中的调控机制。
在本研究中，我们比较了短日照光周期下四个时间点，日长不敏感燕麦品种VAO - 8和日长敏感燕麦品种白燕2茎尖分生组织（SAMs）的发育阶段和转录组图谱。白燕2的发育受短日照长度影响，SAMs在营养阶段持续存在。VAO - 8对光周期反应较小，在短日照光周期下正常成熟。两个品种的比较转录组数据显示，在四个时间点VAO - 8和白燕2之间共有824、1189、646和1145个差异表达基因（DEGs）。功能富集分析表明，与白燕2相比，VAO - 8中与叶绿素生物合成、光合作用、碳水化合物代谢和次生代谢相关的代谢过程显著增强。参与这些过程的上调基因可能有助于VAO - 8在短日照光周期下开花。此外，观察到93个参与多个开花途径的转录因子基因的差异表达，这些基因可能在VAO - 8开花调控中发挥重要作用。
这些结果为短日照光周期下燕麦日长不敏感分子机制在转录水平上提供了全面的理解，为培育日长不敏感燕麦品种奠定了基础。
