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Background The study of plant phenotype by deep learning has received increased interest in recent years, which impressive progress has been made in the fields of plant breeding. Deep learning extremely relies on a large amount of training data to extract and recognize target features in the field of plant phenotype classification and recognition tasks. However, for some flower cultivars identification tasks with a huge number of cultivars, it is difficult for traditional deep learning methods to achieve better recognition results with limited sample data. Thus, a method based on metric learning for flower cultivars identification is proposed to solve this problem. Results We added center loss to the classification network to make inter-class samples disperse and intra-class samples compact, the script of ResNet18, ResNet50, and DenseNet121 were used for feature extraction. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a public dataset Oxford 102 Flowers dataset and two novel datasets constructed by us are chosen. For the method of joint supervision of center loss and L2-softmax loss, the test accuracy rate is 91.88%, 97.34%, and 99.82% across three datasets, respectively. Feature distribution observed by T-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (T-SNE) verifies the effectiveness of the method presented above. Conclusions An efficient metric learning method has been described for flower cultivars identification task, which not only provides high recognition rates but also makes the feature extracted from the recognition network interpretable. This study demonstrated that the proposed method provides new ideas for the application of a small amount of data in the field of identification, and has important reference significance for the flower cultivars identification research.

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification, that is involved in the regulation of gene expression and cell differentiation, and plays an important regulatory role in flower development in higher plants. There are two types of florets on the capitulum in the genus Chrysanthemum, the flower symmetry factor CYCLOIDEA (CYC) 2-like genes may be important candidate genes for determining the identity of the two types of florets. In this study, the diploid plant Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium was used as the research material, and qRT-PCR and bisulfite sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP) were used to identify the expression and DNA methylation pattern of CYC2-like genes in the two types of florets. Gene expression analysis showed that the six ClCYC2-like genes were significantly different in the two types of florets, and the expression levels of ClCYC2c, ClCYC2d, ClCYC2e and ClCYC2f in the ray florets were significantly higher than those in the disc florets. For the DNA methylation analysis of the three genes ClCYC2c, ClCYC2d, and ClCYC2e, it was found that the DNA methylation levels of these three genes were negative correlated with their expression levels, and the ways in which the three genes were regulated by the DNA methylation were different. It is speculated that the different DNA methylation of ClCYC2-like genes in the two types of florets may affect the differentiation and development of the two types of florets. This study provides new clues about epigenetics for the analysis of capitulum formation in Asteraceae.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a genetic tool used to assess gene function. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) is a VIGS vector commonly used to induce endogenous gene silencing in plants. However, there is no VIGS system established for Centaurea spp. We evaluated the effectiveness of a TRV-based VIGS system using phytoene desaturase (PDS) as a reporter gene in Centaurea cyanus. Three methods including pressure-, vacuum- and apical meristem-infiltration were tested to infect C. cyanus seedlings. Photobleached leaves were only obtained using apical meristem-infiltration after a 14 d treatment. The CcPDS transcripts in photobleached leaves were significantly reduced compared with that in green leaves treated with empty TRV. Four C. cyanus cultivars were tested to detect their VIGS responses, and ‘Dwarf Tom Pouce Blue’ was the most sensitive. The agro-infiltration condition was optimized by screening for the optimal seedling stage as well as the optimum Agrobacterium density for efficient silencing. Seedlings with four true leaves and infiltration with an Agrobacterium density of OD600 0.5 were optimal conditions to obtain more photobleached leaves and more intense photobleached phenotype. The results demonstrated the feasibility of TRV-based VIGS for functional analysis of genes in C. cyanus.

Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium (Fischer ex Trautv.) Makino is a diploid plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, with typical capitula composed of female ray florets and bisexual disc florets. The differentiation and development of these two types of florets have long been important research focuses; however, the potential epigenetic mechanisms governing these processes have not been elucidated. In the present study, methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism method was used to trace the dynamic changes of DNA methylation during capitulum development in C. lavandulifolium. DNA methylation patterns and levels were detected in the whole capitula during seven developmental stages, and the obtained results revealed that DNA demethylation was dominant during this process. In addition, DNA methylation patterns and levels showed significant differences between ray and disc florets. Moreover, the expression patterns of candidate genes potentially involved in the development processes of two types of florets were analyzed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and correlation analysis indicated that the expression levels of ClPI, ClAG2, ClSEP1, ClCYC2c, ClCYC2d, and ClCYC2e were highly correlated with DNA methylation levels. These results indicate that DNA methylation may be involved in the differentiation and development of ray and disc florets. This study provides epigenetic insights into the capitulum development in C. lavandulifolium.

Carotenoids are one of the most important pigments for the coloring of many plants, fruits, and flowers. Recently, significant progress has been made in carotenoid metabolism. However, our specific understanding of the transcriptional regulation that controls the expression of carotenoid metabolic genes remains extremely limited. Anemone-type chrysanthemums, a special group of chrysanthemum cultivars, contain elongated disc florets in the capitulum that usually differ in color from the ray florets because of their different carotenoid contents. In this study, the carotenoid composition and content of ray and disc florets from the anemone-type chrysanthemum cultivar “Dong Li Fen Gui” were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS), and the key structural gene CmCCD4a-2, whose differential expression resulted in different carotenoid contents in these two types of florets, was identified. The promoter sequence of CmCCD4a-2 was then used as bait to screen a chrysanthemum flower cDNA library, and the transcription factors (TFs) CmAP3 and CmUIF1 were identified. Y2H, BiFC, and Y3H experiments demonstrated that these two TFs were connected by CmPI to form a CmAP3-CmPI-CmUIF1 TF complex. This TF complex regulated carotenoid metabolism by directly activating the expression of CmCCD4a-2. A large number of target genes regulated directly by the CmAP3-CmPI-CmUIF1 TF complex, including carotenoid biosynthetic genes, flavonoid biosynthetic genes, and flower development-related genes, were identified by DNA-affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq). This result indicated that the CmAP3-CmPI-CmUIF1 TF complex may participate in multiple processes. These findings expand our knowledge of the transcriptional regulation of carotenoid metabolism in plants and will be helpful for manipulating carotenoid accumulation in chrysanthemum.

Cineraria (Senecio cruentus) is an ornamental plant with pure colour and bicolour cultivars, widely used for landscaping. Anthocyanin biosynthesis influences coloration patterns in cineraria. However, how anthocyanins accumulate and distribute in cineraria is poorly understood. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying anthocyanin biosynthesis and bicolour formation in cineraria using pure colour and bicolour cultivars. Transcriptome and gene expression analysis showed that five genes, ScCHS2, ScF3H1, ScDFR3, ScANS, and ScbHLH17, were inhibited in the white cultivar and colourless regions of bicolour cultivars. In contrast, two MADS-box genes, ScAG and ScAGL11, showed significantly higher expression in the colourless regions of bicolour cultivars. ScAG and ScAGL11 were localized in the nucleus and co-expressed with the bicolour trait. Further functional analysis verified that ScAG inhibits anthocyanin accumulation in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). However, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) experiments showed that silencing of ScAG and ScAGL11 increases anthocyanin content in cineraria leaves. Similar results were observed when ScAG and ScAGL11 were silenced in the cineraria capitulum, accompanied by the smaller size of the colourless region, specifically in the ScAG/ScAGL11-silenced plants. The expression of ScCHS2, ScDFR3, and ScF3H1 increased in silenced cineraria leaves and capitulum. Furthermore, yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation experiments demonstrated that ScAG interacts with ScAGL11. Moreover, ScAG directly inhibited the transcription of ScF3H1 while ScAGL11 inhibited ScDFR3 expression by binding to their promoters separately. The findings reported herein indicate that ScAG and ScAGL11 negatively regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis in cineraria ray florets, and their differential expression in ray florets influences the bicolour pattern appearance.

Cultivated chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium Ramat.) is a beloved ornamental crop due to the diverse capitula types among varieties, but the molecular mechanism of capitulum development remains unclear. Here, we report a 2.60 Gb chromosome-scale reference genome of C. lavandulifolium, a wild Chrysanthemum species found in China, Korea and Japan. The evolutionary analysis of the genome revealed that only recent tandem duplications occurred in the C. lavandulifolium genome after the shared whole genome triplication (WGT) in Asteraceae. Based on the transcriptomic profiling of six important developmental stages of the radiate capitulum in C. lavandulifolium, we found genes in the MADS-box, TCP, NAC and LOB gene families that were involved in disc and ray floret primordia differentiation. Notably, NAM and LOB30 homologs were specifically expressed in the radiate capitulum, suggesting their pivotal roles in the genetic network of disc and ray floret primordia differentiation in chrysanthemum. The present study not only provides a high-quality reference genome of chrysanthemum but also provides insight into the molecular mechanism underlying the diverse capitulum types in chrysanthemum.

Anthocyanins in cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) is catalysed by a set of biosynthesis genes, however, the potential mechanism of transcriptional regulation remains unclear. In the present study, we traced the dynamic changes of petal colour development from white to violet and finally to blue on the same petal in cornflower. Pigment analysis showed that anthocyanin accumulation dramatically increased with petal colour development. Subsequently, nine libraries from above three colour regions were constructed for RNA-seq and 105,506 unigenes were obtained by de novo assembling. The differentially expressed genes among three colour regions were significantly enriched in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways, leading to the excavation and analysis of 46 biosynthesis genes involved in this process. Furthermore, four R2R3-CcMYBs clustered into subgroup 4 or subgroup 6 and one CcbHLH1 clustered into IIIf subgroup were screened out by phylogenetic analysis with Arabidopsis homologues. The promoters of flavanone 3-hydroxylase (CcF3H) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (CcDFR) were further isolated to investigate upstream regulation mechanism. CcMYB6-1 significantly upregulated the activity of above two promoters and stimulated anthocyanin accumulation by dual luciferase assay and transient expression in tobacco leaves, and its activity was obviously enhanced when co-infiltrated with CcbHLH1. Moreover, both yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays indicated the protein-protein interaction between these two activators. Based on these obtained results, it reveals that CcMYB6-1 and CcbHLH1 are two novel transcription factors synergistically involved in regulating anthocyanin biosynthesis. This study provides insights into the regulatory mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation in cornflower.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a technology for rapid gene functional analysis that depends on the degradation of viral RNA and is part of the natural defense mechanism in plants. Senecio cruentus is an important Compositae ornamental species that is plentiful and available in a variety of colors and has a typical blue variety that is rare in Compositae. These advantages make it a good material for studying the anthocyanin biosynthesis and blue flower formation mechanism. With the development of gene sequencing technology, the functions of many candidate genes that may be involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis in S. cruentus need to be identified. However, a stable and rapid genetic transformation system of S. cruentus is still lacking. Here, we screened two cultivars, ‘Venezia’ and ‘Jseter’, selected ScPDS and ScANS as test genes, and investigated the effect of developmental periods, bacterial cell concentrations and infection methods on gene silencing efficiency. The results showed that the silencing efficiency of S. cruentus leaves was low (13%), and it was less affected by the parameters. However, the transcription factor gene ScbHLH17 was still silenced by VIGS, which resulted in the loss of anthocyanin accumulation in leaves, and the expression levels of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway (ABP) structural genes, including ScCHI, ScDFR3 and ScANS, were decreased significantly. The result proved that ScbHLH17 was an important transcription factor that regulated flower color formation in S. cruentus. In addition, ScANS-silencing phenotypes were observed in S. cruentus capitulum by vacuum-infiltrating S1 stage buds for 10 min after scape injection. In general, the present study provided an important technical support for the study of anthocyanin metabolism pathways in S. cruentus.

The traditional Chinese large-flowered chrysanthemum is one of the cultivar groups of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium Ramat.) with great morphological variation based on many cultivars. Some experts have established several large-flowered chrysanthemum classification systems by using the method of comparative morphology. However, for many cultivars, accurate recognition and classification are still a problem. Combined with the comparative morphological traits of selected samples, we proposed a multi-information model based on deep learning to recognize and classify large-flowered chrysanthemum. In this study, we collected the images of 213 large-flowered chrysanthemum cultivars in two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019. Based on the 2018 dataset, we constructed a multi-information classification model using non-pre-trained ResNet18 as the backbone network. The model achieves 70.62% top-5 test accuracy for the 2019 dataset. We explored the ability of image features to represent the characteristics of large-flowered chrysanthemum. The affinity propagation (AP) clustering shows that the features are sufficient to discriminate flower colors. The principal component analysis (PCA) shows the petal type has a better interpretation than the flower type. The training sample processing, model training scheme, and learning rate adjustment method affected the convergence and generalization of the model. The non-pre-trained model overcomes the problem of focusing on texture by ignoring colors with the ImageNet pre-trained model. These results lay a foundation for the automated recognition and classification of large-flowered chrysanthemum cultivars based on image classification.

The variation of flower color of chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum×morifolium) is extremely rich, and carotenoids, which are mainly stored in the plastid, are important pigments that determine the color of chrysanthemum. However, the genetic regulation of the carotenoid metabolism pathway in this species still remains unclear. In this study, a pink chrysanthemum cultivar, 'Jianliuxiang Pink', and its three bud sport mutants (including white, yellow and red color mutants, 'Jianliuxiang White', 'Jianliuxiang Yellow' and 'Jianliuxiang Red', respectively) were used as experimental materials to analyze the dynamic changes of carotenoid components and plastid ultrastructure at different developmental stages of ray florets. We found that the carotenoid components and plastid ultrastructure of the four color cultivars in the early developmental stage of the chrysanthemum capitulum (S1) were almost identical, and the carotenoids mainly included violaxanthin, lutein and β-carotene, which exist in proplastids and immature chloroplasts. With the development of capitulum, the chloroplasts in 'Jianliuxiang White' and 'Jianliuxiang Pink' were degraded, and the protoplasts did not transform but rather formed vesicles that accumulated trace amounts of carotenoids. The proplastids and chloroplasts in 'Jianliuxiang Yellow' and 'Jianliuxiang Red' were all transformed into chromoplasts and consist of lutein as well as lutein's isomer and derivatives. Using comparative transcriptomics combined with gene expression analysis, we found that CmPg-1, CmPAP10, and CmPAP13, which were involved in chromoplast transformation, CmLCYE, which was involved in carotenoid biosynthesis, and CmCCD4a-2, which was involved in carotenoid degradation, were differentially expressed between four cultivars, and these key genes therefore should affect the accumulation of carotenoids in chrysanthemum. In addition, six transcription factors, CmMYB305, CmMYB29, CmRAD3, CmbZIP61, CmAGL24, CmNAC1, were screened using weighted gene co-expression correlation network analysis (WGCNA) combined with correlative analysis to determine whether they play an important role in carotenoid accumulation by regulating structural genes related to the carotenoid metabolism pathway and plastid development. This study analyzed dynamic changes of carotenoid components and plastid ultrastructure of the four bud mutation cultivars of chrysanthemum and identified structural genes and transcription factors that may be involved in carotenoid accumulation. The above results laid a solid foundation for further analysis of the regulatory mechanism of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in chrysanthemum.

Carotenoids are the most important pigments determining the color of C. × morifolium; however, it is still unknown whether the changes of plastid ultrastructure affect carotenoids accumulation. In this study, we compared the change of carotenoid composition, content, and the plastid ultrastructures in the different developmental stages of capitulum among fourteen C. × morifolium cultivars from seven color groups. We found that the carotenoids and plastids detected at the early stage of capitulum development were similar in all cultivars, including violaxanthin, lutein, and β-carotene, which were present in proplastids and immature chloroplasts. Immature chloroplasts were degraded completely, forming loosely broken plastids during the development of the capitulum in white and pink cultivars. Meanwhile, a number of lipid vesicles appeared at proplastids, which resulted in only trace amounts of carotenoid accumulation in these cultivars. For yellow, orange, red, and brown cultivars, a great number of chromoplasts were found, which contained diverse ultrastructures, such as plastoglobules, tubules, and lipid droplets; these chromoplasts were derived from proplastids or chloroplasts. Compared with the early stage of capitulum development, these cultivars accumulated large amounts of carotenoids, primarily including lutein, lutein derivatives, and their isomers. In green cultivars, proplastids and immature chloroplasts were completely transformed into mature chloroplasts. These chloroplasts mainly contained violaxanthin, lutein, β-carotene, and two new components, (9Z)-lutein and (9'Z)-lutein, compared with carotenoid components presented in proplastids and immature chloroplasts. This research will be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of carotenoid metabolism of C. × morifolium. Furthermore, we found that two different chromoplast transformation patterns could be present in the same tissue cell, which contributed to the research on plastid differentiation and development in higher plants.

Plant growth and development are significantly affected by salt stress. Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium is a halophyte species and one of the ancestors of chrysanthemum (C. ×morifolium). Understanding how this species tolerates salt stress could provide vital insight for clarifying the salt response systems of higher plants, and chrysanthemum-breeding programs could be improved. In this study, salt tolerance was compared among C. lavandulifolium and three chrysanthemum cultivars by physiological experiments, among which C. lavandulifolium and Jinba displayed better tolerance to salt stress than the other two cultivars, whereas Xueshan was a salt-sensitive cultivar. Using the transcriptome database of C. lavandulifolium as a reference, we used digital gene expression technology to analyze the global gene expression changes in C. lavandulifolium seedlings treated with 200 mm NaCl for 12 hours compared with seedlings cultured in normal conditions. In total, 2254 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 1418 up-regulated and 836 down-regulated genes, were identified. These DEGs were significantly enriched in 35 gene ontology terms and 29 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Genes related to signal transduction, ion transport, proline biosynthesis, reactive oxygen species scavenging systems, and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways were relevant to the salt tolerance of C. lavandulifolium. Furthermore, comparative gene expression analysis was conducted using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to compare the transcriptional levels of significantly up-regulated DEGs in C. lavandulifolium and the salt-sensitive cultivar Xueshan, and species-specific differences were observed. The analysis of one of the DEGs, ClAKT, an important K+ transport gene, was found to enable transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana to absorb K+ and efflux Na+ under salt stress and to absorb K+ under drought stress. The present study investigated potential genes and pathways involved in salt tolerance in C. lavandulifolium and provided a hereditary resource for the confinement of genes and pathways responsible for salt tolerance in this species. This study provided a valuable source of reference genes for chrysanthemum cultivar transgenesis breeding.

The NAC transcription factor is a peculiar kind of transcription factor in plants. Transcription factors are involved in the expression of plant genes under different conditions, and they play a crucial role in plant response to various biotic and abiotic stress. We transferred the ClNAC9 gene into Chrysanthemum grandiflora ‘niu9717’ by Agrobacterium tumefaciens–mediated transformation. The results of kanamycin-resistant screening, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection, and Northern blot analysis proved that the target gene had been integrated into the genome of the target plants. Wild-type (WT) plants and transgenic plants were treated with different concentrations of NaCl, NaHCO3, and drought stress, and physiological indexes, such as antioxidant system activity (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase), malondialdehyde accumulation, and leaf relative water content, were measured. We also observed changes in plant morphology. The physiological indexes’ changing range and extreme values suggested that transgenic plants’ resistance to salinity, alkali, and drought stress was significantly higher than WT plants. Transgenic plant growth was less inhibited compared with WT plants, indicating that the ClNAC9 gene increased the resistance of transgenic plants under the stress of salinization, alkalization, and drought.

The understanding of capitulum morphogenesis is critical for modification of chrysanthemum flower type. Previous studies showed candidate genes which involved in the inflorescence architecture, such as PIN-FORMED 1 (PIN1), AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 5 (ARF5) and LEAFY (LFY), acted dominant role during early flower development. However, it is not known whether those candidate genes play parts in the capitulum morphogenesis. In the present study, floral morphogenesis and the corresponding external morphological changes in Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium were observed using scanning electron microscope and light microscope technology. Capitulum morphogenesis showed that ray florets primordia initiated later than the outermost disc florets primordia at the middle stage of florets primordia differentiation (stage 6), breaking the acropetal initiation of organ primordia on capitulum. Organogenesis of disc and ray florets showed that the early generation of florets corollas primordia was the key differentiation stages, in which disc and ray florets fused with actinomorphic and zygomorphic corollas, respectively. Furthermore, the expression patterns of inflorescence architecture related genes were detected at key stages of capitulum morphogenesis as well as the different organs on capitulum using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR). The transcripts of ClARF5 specially increased at stage 5 and stage 6, as well as in ray florets corollas. The results indicated that ClARF5 might be responsible for the orientation and initiation of disc and ray florets during early capitulum morphogenesis. Studies on the capitulum morphogenesis of C. lavandulifolium not only bring molecular insights into capitulum morphogenesis, but also lay foundation for the flower type-oriented modification in cultivated chrysanthemums.

The head-like inflorescence in C. × morifolium was considered as a pseudianthia that bears numerous types of floral organs. ABCE-class and CYC2-like genes have been proven to play a key role in the identity of floral organs. To further understand their roles in capitulum development, expression pattern and protein interactions of ABCE-class and CYC2-like genes were detected using quantitative PCR and yeast-two hybrid. A-class genes, DenFUL and ClAP2, particularly accumulated in ray floret corollas and formed heterodimers with CYC2-like proteins. CYC2-like genes are particularly expressed in ray floret corollas, and these proteins form homodimers and heterodimers. The present study indicated that A-class genes in chrysanthemums interacted with CYC2-like genes and might be involved in the identity of reproductive organs and ray florets, especially the differentiation of disc and ray floret corollas. Moreover, the floral organ identity model in Chrysanthemums was proposed based on insights from the gene expression and protein interactions of ABCE-class and CYC2-like genes.

Flower type is an important quality trait of ornamental plants. Mastering genetic variation in flower types is of practical significance for breeding improved flower types. Chrysanthemum (non-anemone type) flowers consist of several elements; both ray floret shape and the relative number of ray florets (RNRF) on the capitulum are very important factors. However, until recently, few reports have standardized chrysanthemum flower type evaluations, hindering the development of genetic studies of chrysanthemum flower types. In this study, as an important index of ray floret shape, the corolla tube merged degree (CTMD) was defined as the corolla tube length/ray floret length (CTL/RFL). In addition, the number of ray florets/number of florets (NRF/NF) was used to describe the RNRF on the capitulum. Major gene and polygene mixed inheritance analyses were conducted based on 2 F1 populations from 2 pairs of parents that strongly differed in the CTMD and RNRF. ANOVA revealed that all traits strongly significantly differed among the different hybrids, and correlation analysis revealed that the CTMD and RNRF might have evolved independently. Additionally, according to the Q-mode cluster analysis results, we divided the RNRF into 4 levels: single, semi-double I, semi-double II and double. Genetic analysis revealed that both the CTMD and RNRF could be described by a B-2 genetic model via two additive-dominance major genes. In addition, the heritability of the major genes for these traits was greater than 50%, indicating that the CTMD and RNRF were controlled mainly by genetic factors. These results will provide a new theoretical basis for further improvement and breeding of chrysanthemum flower types.

Plants sense photoperiod signals to confirm the optimal flowering time. Previous studies have shown that Cryptochrome2 (CRY2) functions to promote floral transition in the long-day plant (LDP) Arabidopsis; however, the function and molecular mechanism by which CRY2 regulates floral transition in short-day plants (SDPs) is still unclear. In this study, we identified a CRY2 homologous gene, ClCRY2, from Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium, a typical SDP. The morphological changes in the C. lavandulifolium shoot apex and ClFTs expression analysis under SD conditions showed that adult C. lavandulifolium completed the developmental transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth after eight SDs. Meanwhile, ClCRY2 mRNA exhibited an increasing trend from 0 to 8 d of SD treatment. ClCRY2 overexpression in wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis and C. lavandulifolium resulted in early flowering. The transcript levels of the CONSTANS-like (COL) genes ClCOL1, ClCOL4, and ClCOL5, and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) homologous gene ClFT1 were upregulated in ClCRY2 overexpression (ClCRY2-OE) C. lavandulifolium under SD conditions. The transcript levels of some circadian clock-related genes, including PSEUDO-REPONSE REGULATOR 5 (PRR5), ZEITLUPE (ZTL), FLAVIN-BINDING KELCH REPEAT F-BOX 1 (FKF1), and GIGANTEA (GI-1 and GI-2), were upregulated in ClCRY2-OE C. lavandulifolium, while the expression levels of other circadian clock-related genes, such as EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3), ELF4, LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY), PRR73, and REVEILLE8 (RVE8), were downregulated in ClCRY2-OE C. lavandulifolium under SD conditions. Taken together, the results suggest that ClCRY2 promotes floral transition by fine-tuning the expression of circadian clock-related gene, ClCOLs and ClFT1 in C. lavandulifolium under SD conditions., Genetics: Harnessing flower power in chrysanthemums Researchers have identified the genes that control the timing of flowering in chrysanthemums. For most plants, day-length indicates that it is time to flower. Greenhouse growers can produce out-of-season flowers by manipulating day length, but the process is expensive. Breeding varieties that respond more quickly could reduce costs, but requires a better understanding of the underlying genetics, especially in the subset of plants triggered by short days. Si-lan Dai and co-workers at Beijing Forestry University in China investigated which genes trigger flowering in Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium, a typical short-day plant. They found that flowering of chrysanthemum is controlled by a gene previously identified in long-day plants, and that amplifying the gene produced plants that flowered much sooner than ordinary plants. These findings may help in breeding varieties that are easily induced to bloom.

ABSTACT Cymbidium longibracteatum is a common cultivated species in the genus Cymbidium due to its elegant appearance, rich flower colors and strong fragrance, but its classification is quite controversial. In this study, the complete chloroplast genome of C. longibracteatum was obtained by Illumina sequencing. The chloroplast genome of C. longibracteatum is 150,070 bp in length with an overall GC content of 37.12%, which contains a large single-copy (LSC;84,949 bp) region, a small single-copy (SSC;13,745bp) region, and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs; 25,688 bp) regions. The genome contains 130 genes, namely 84 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. The maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree has proved that C. longibracteatum should exist as an independent species in the genus Cymbidium, and it is most closely related to C. tortisepalum. This study provides valuable sequence resources for further study of C. longibracteatum.

Polyacylated anthocyanins with multiple glycosyl and aromatic acyl groups tend to make flowers display bright and stable blue colours. However, there are few studies on the isolation and functional characterization of genes involved in the polyacylated anthocyanin biosynthesis mechanism, which limits the molecular breeding of truly blue flowers. Senecio cruentus is an important potted ornamental plant, and its blue flowers contain 3′,7-polyacylated delphinidin-type anthocyanins that are not reported in any other plants, suggesting that it harbours abundant gene resources for the molecular breeding of blue flowers. In this study, using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) analysis of blue, carmine and white colours of cineraria cultivars “Venezia” (named VeB, VeC, and VeW, respectively), we found that 3′,7-polyacylated anthocyanin, cinerarin, was the main pigment component that determined the blue colour of ray florets of cineraria. Based on the transcriptome sequencing and differential gene expression (DEG) analysis combined with RT- and qRT-PCR, we found two genes encoding uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase, named ScUGT1 and ScUGT4; two genes encoding acyl-glucoside-dependent glucosyltransferases which belong to glycoside hydrolase family 1 (GH1), named ScAGGT11 and ScAGGT12; one gene encoding serine carboxypeptidase-like acyltransferase ScSCPL2; and two MYB transcriptional factor genes ScMYB2 and ScMYB4, that were specifically highly expressed in the ray florets of VeB, which indicated that these genes may be involved in cinerarin biosynthesis. The function of ScSCPL2 was analysed by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) in cineraria leaves combined with HPLC-MS/MS. ScSCPL2 mainly participated in the 3′ and 7-position acylation of cinerarin. These results will provide new insight into the molecular basis of the polyacylated anthocyanin biosynthesis mechanism in higher plants and are of great significance for blue flower molecular breeding of ornamental plants.

Background The ray floret shapes referred to as petal types on the chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum × morifolium Ramat.) capitulum is extremely abundant, which is one of the most important ornamental traits of chrysanthemum. However, the regulatory mechanisms of different ray floret shapes are still unknown. C. vestitum is a major origin species of cultivated chrysanthemum and has flat, spoon, and tubular type of ray florets which are the three basic petal types of chrysanthemum. Therefore, it is an ideal model material for studying ray floret morphogenesis in chrysanthemum. Here, using morphological, gene expression and transcriptomic analyses of different ray floret types of C. vestitum, we explored the developmental processes and underlying regulatory networks of ray florets. Results The formation of the flat type was due to stagnation of its dorsal petal primordium, while the petal primordium of the tubular type had an intact ring shape. Morphological differences between the two ray floret types occurred during the initial stage with vigorous cell division. Analysis of genes related to flower development showed that CYCLOIDEA genes, including CYC2b, CYC2d, CYC2e, and CYC2f, were differentially expressed in different ray floret types, while the transcriptional levels of others, such as MADS-box genes, were not significantly different. Hormone-related genes, including SMALL AUXIN UPREGULATED RNA (SAUR), GRETCHEN HAGEN3 (GH3), GIBBERELLIN 2-BETA-DIOXYGENASE 1 (GA2OX1) and APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSIVE FACTOR (AP2/ERF), were identified from 1532 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in pairwise comparisons among the flat, spoon, and tubular types, with significantly higher expression in the tubular type than that in the flat type and potential involvement in the morphogenesis of different ray floret types. Conclusions Our findings, together with the gene interactional relationships reported for Arabidopsis thaliana, suggest that hormone-related genes are highly expressed in the tubular type, promoting petal cell division and leading to the formation of a complete ring of the petal primordium. These results provide novel insights into the morphological variation of ray floret of chrysanthemum.

Flower type is an important and extremely complicated trait of chrysanthemum. The corolla tube merged degree (CTMD) and the relative number of ray florets (RNRF) are the two key factors affecting chrysanthemum flower type. However, few reports have clarified the inheritance of these two complex traits, which limits directed breeding for flower-type improvement. In this study, 305 F1hybrids were obtained from two parents with obvious differences in CTMD and RNRF performance. Using specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) technology, we constructed a high-density genetic linkage map with an average map distance of 0.76 cM. Three major QTLs controlling CTMD and four major QTLs underlying RNRF were repeatedly detected in the 2 years. Moreover, the synteny between the genetic map and other Compositae species was investigated, and weak collinearity was observed. In QTL regions with a high degree of genomic collinearity, eight annotated genes were probed in theHelianthus annuusL. andLactuca sativaL. var. ramosa Hort. genomes. Furthermore, 20 and 11 unigenes were identified via BLAST searches between the SNP markers of the QTL regions and theC. vestitumandC. lavandulifoliumtranscriptomes, respectively. These results lay a foundation for molecular marker-assisted breeding and candidate gene exploration in chrysanthemum without a reference assembly.

Leaf shape is an important quality trait of agronomic crops, and to control the law of genetic variation of leaf shape is of practical significance for improving the early identification and selection of agronomic crops. Variations in the leaf morphology of chrysanthemum cultivars are abundant, and previous studies have quantitatively defined and classified the leaf morphology of chrysanthemum, however, the genetic architecture of chrysanthemum leaves has not been elucidated to date. In this study, two pairs of F1 hybrid populations were constructed by using small-flower chrysanthemum varieties with differences in leaf traits, and the genetic variation rules of these important quantitative traits were further discussed based on the major gene and polygene mixed inheritance analyses. The results showed that the leaves in blade shape (LBS), leaf length/width is controlled by two pairs of additive-dominant major genes (B-1), the widest part length/leaf length is controlled by two completely dominant genes (B-5), in leaf lobe shape (LLS), the lobe length/vein length is controlled by one pair of additive dominant major genes (A-1), and the lobe length/lobe width is controlled by two pairs of additive dominant major genes (B-2). The heritability of major genes was greater than 30%. For the leaf petiole shape (LPS), the petiole length is controlled by a pair of additive-dominant major genes (A-1). The results showed that the leaf traits were mainly controlled by genetic factors. In addition, based on the high-density genetic map of one F1 hybrid population, it was found that 51 quantitative trait loci (QTL) were used to control the leaf traits, including two QTLs that controlled the LBS. There were 18 QTLs that controlled LLS. Moreover, the primary QTLs that controlled leaf width and lobe length were obtained. The results of this study may establish a theoretical foundation for the in-depth exploration of leaf-shape-related genes in chrysanthemum and may provide a reference for future research investigating leaf-shape genetics in other agronomic crops.

Flower type is an important and extremely complicated trait of chrysanthemum. The corolla tube merged degree (CTMD) and the relative number of ray florets (RNRF) are the two key factors affecting chrysanthemum flower type. However, few reports have clarified the inheritance of these two complex traits, which limits directed breeding for flower-type improvement. In this study, 305 F1 hybrids were obtained from two parents with obvious differences in CTMD and RNRF performance. Using specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) technology, we constructed a high-density genetic linkage map with an average map distance of 0.76 cM. Three major QTLs controlling CTMD and four major QTLs underlying RNRF were repeatedly detected in the 2 years. Moreover, the synteny between the genetic map and other Compositae species was investigated, and weak collinearity was observed. In QTL regions with a high degree of genomic collinearity, eight annotated genes were probed in the Helianthus annuus L. and Lactuca sativa L. var. ramosa Hort. genomes. Furthermore, 20 and 11 unigenes were identified via BLAST searches between the SNP markers of the QTL regions and the C. vestitum and C. lavandulifolium transcriptomes, respectively. These results lay a foundation for molecular marker-assisted breeding and candidate gene exploration in chrysanthemum without a reference assembly.

Additional file 2: Figure S2. The original and full-length gel images of flower development related genes. R1-R5 indicated the five opening stages of ray floret petals, F: flat ray floret petal, S: spoon ray floret petal, T: tubular ray floret petal, D: disc floret corolla tube.

The large-flowered Chinese chrysanthemum is one of the most morphologically complex ornamental plants, and its identification and classification requires a well-defined and reproducible system. The diversity of the capitulum is determined mainly by multiple shapes of ray florets. However, the existing classification systems for ray floret types are incomplete and unsystematic. In this study, 299 ray florets from 151 large-flowered chrysanthemum varieties in China, as well as 12 related traits of ray florets, were selected for quantitative classification. First, as one of the most important indices of ray floret shape, the corolla tube merged degree (CTMD) was defined as the corolla tube length/ray floret length (CTL/RFL). Combined with a probability grading method and linear regression analysis, the CTMD was divided into three groups, flat, spoon, and tubular, of which the CTL/RFL ranged from 0 to 0.20, 0.20 to 0.60, and 0.60 to 1.00, respectively. Second, Q-mode cluster analysis indicated that each group could be further categorized into three types (straight, curved, and atypical), based on other important variables in the ray floret. Finally, the ray floret was classified into nine types, including flat-straight, flat-curve, flat-atypical, spoon-straight, spoon-curve, spoon-atypical, tubular-straight, tubular-curve, and tubular-atypical. This ray floret classification system will be valuable in the classification of capitulum shape and has significance for the identification, breeding, and international standardization of chrysanthemum cultivars.