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De novo Assembly of the Camellia nitidissima Transcriptome Reveals Key Genes of Flower Pigment Biosynthesis

Authors :
Xingwen Zhou
Jiyuan Li
Yulin Zhu
Sui Ni
Jinling Chen
Xiaojuan Feng
Yunfeng Zhang
Shuangquan Li
Hongguang Zhu
Yuanguang Wen
Source :
Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol 8 (2017)
Publication Year :
2017
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2017.

Abstract

The golden camellia, Camellia nitidissima Chi., is a well-known ornamental plant that is known as “the queen of camellias” because of its golden yellow flowers. The principal pigments in the flowers are carotenoids and flavonol glycosides. Understanding the biosynthesis of the golden color and its regulation is important in camellia breeding. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of flower development in C. nitidissima, a number of cDNA libraries were independently constructed during flower development. Using the Illumina Hiseq2500 platform, approximately 71.8 million raw reads (about 10.8 gigabase pairs) were obtained and assembled into 583,194 transcripts and 466, 594 unigenes. A differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and co-expression network was constructed to identify unigenes correlated with flower color. The analysis of DEGs and co-expressed network involved in the carotenoid pathway indicated that the biosynthesis of carotenoids is regulated mainly at the transcript level and that phytoene synthase (PSY), β -carotene 3-hydroxylase (CrtZ), and capsanthin synthase (CCS1) exert synergistic effects in carotenoid biosynthesis. The analysis of DEGs and co-expressed network involved in the flavonoid pathway indicated that chalcone synthase (CHS), naringenin 3-dioxygenase (F3H), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase(ANS), and flavonol synthase (FLS) play critical roles in regulating the formation of flavonols and anthocyanidin. Based on the gene expression analysis of the carotenoid and flavonoid pathways, and determinations of the pigments, we speculate that the high expression of PSY and CrtZ ensures the production of adequate levels of carotenoids, while the expression of CHS, FLS ensures the production of flavonols. The golden yellow color is then the result of the accumulation of carotenoids and flavonol glucosides in the petals. This study of the mechanism of color formation in golden camellia points the way to breeding strategies that exploit gene technology approaches to increase the content of carotenoids and flavonol glucosides and to decrease anthocyanidin synthesis.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1664462X
Volume :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.70b603b839d44bc9b02e4a853f26b521
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.01545