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Dendrocalamus brandisii (Munro) Kurz is a sympodial bamboo species with a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. Due to its remarkable regenerative ability and exceptional flavor, this species plays a pivotal role in bolstering the economies of numerous nations across these regions. We recently published a high-quality genome of this species. To date, no study results have identified the optimal reference genes for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) normalization in Dendrocalamus brandisii. qRT-PCR offers a highly accurate and effective approach to analyzing gene expression. However, the precision of the resulting quantitative data hinges on the correct choice of reference genes. Twenty-one potential reference genes were identified from the D. brandisii transcriptomes. Their expression in 23 samples, including 8 different tissue organs and 15 samples of D. brandisii under various treatment conditions, were evaluated through qRT-PCR. Subsequently, four software programs—Delta CT, geNorm, NormFinder, and RefFinder—were employed to compare their expression stability. The results revealed that the selection of optimal reference genes varied based on the particular organ and condition being examined. EF-1-α-2 consistently exhibits the most stable expression across diverse tissues, while ACTIN-1, TUBULIN-1, and EF-1-α-2 were the most consistent reference genes in roots, culms, and leaves under various treatments, respectively. In this study, we identified and characterized appropriate internal genes utilized for calibrating qRT-PCR analyses of D. brandisii across different tissue organs and under various treatments. This research will provide key insights for advancing the study of gene functionality and molecular biology in D. brandisii and related species

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC), as a necessary enzyme for higher plants to participate in photosynthesis, plays a key role in photosynthetic carbon metabolism and the stress response. However, the molecular biology of the PEPC family of Bambusoideae has been poorly studied, and the function of its members in the growth and development of Bambusoideae is still unclear. Here, we identified a total of 62 PEPC family members in bamboo. All the PEPC genes in the bamboo subfamily were divided into twelve groups, each group typically containing significantly fewer PEPC members in Olyra latifolia than in Phyllostachys edulis, Dendrocalamus latiflorus and Dendrocalamus brandisii. The results of an intraspecific and interspecies collinearity analysis showed that fragment replication and whole genome replication were the main driving forces of bamboo PEPC members. Furthermore, the Ka/Ks values of collinear genes showed that bamboo PEPC experienced purification selection. In addition, the promoter region of PEPC genes contains cis-acting elements related to light response, plant hormone response and response to stress. An analysis of the expression levels of the PEPC family in different developmental stages and tissues of bamboo shoots has shown that PhePEPC7, PhePEPC9 and PhePEPC10 were highly expressed in the leaves of non-flowering plants and culms. Furthermore, PhePEPC6 was significantly upregulated in leaves after GA treatment. Further research has shown that PhePEPC6 was mainly localized in the cell membrane. This provides a solid bioinformatics foundation for further understanding the biological functions of the bamboo PEPC family.

Sucrose (Suc) and gibberellin (GA) can promote the elongation of certain internodes in bamboo. However, there is a lack of field studies to support these findings and no evidence concerning how Suc and GA promote the plant height of bamboo by regulating the internode elongation and number. We investigated the plant height, the length of each internode, and the total number of internodes of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) under exogenous Suc, GA, and control group (CTRL) treatments in the field and analyzed how Suc and GA affected the height of Moso bamboo by promoting the internode length and number. The lengths of the 10th–50th internodes were significantly increased under the exogenous Suc and GA treatments, and the number of internodes was significantly increased by the exogenous Suc treatment. The increased effect of Suc and GA exogenous treatment on the proportion of longer internodes showed a weakening trend near the plant height of 15–16 m compared with the CTRL, suggesting that these exogenous treatments may be more effective in regions where bamboo growth is suboptimal. This study demonstrated that both the exogenous Suc and GA treatments could promote internode elongation of Moso bamboo in the field. The exogenous GA treatment had a stronger effect on internode elongation, and the exogenous Suc treatment had a stronger effect on increasing the internode numbers. The increase in plant height by the exogenous Suc and GA treatments was promoted by the co-elongation of most internodes or the increase in the proportion of longer internodes.