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Comparative transcriptomics reveals a reduction in carbon capture and flux between source and sink in cytokinin-treated inflorescences of Jatropha curcas L.

ABSTRACT: The low seed yield of Jatropha curcas has been a stumbling block in realizing its full potential as an ideal bioenergy crop. Low female to male flower ratio is considered as a major limiting factor responsible for low seed yield in Jatropha. An exogenous cytokinin application was performed on floral meristems to increase the seed yield. This resulted in an increase of total flowers count with a higher female to male flower ratio. However, the seed biomass did not increase in the same proportion. The possible reason for this was hypothesized to be the lack of increased photosynthesis efficiency at source tissues which could fulfil the increased demand of photosynthates and primary metabolites in maturing seeds. After cytokinin application, possible molecular mechanisms underlying carbon capture and flux affected between the source and sink in developing flowers, fruits and seeds were investigated. Comparative transcriptome analysis was performed on inflorescence meristems (treated with cytokinin) and control (untreated inflorescence meristems) at time intervals of 15 and 30 days, respectively. KEGG-based functional annotation identified various metabolic pathways associated with carbon capture and flux. Pathways such as photosynthesis, carbon fixation, carbohydrate metabolism and nitrogen metabolism were upregulated after 15 days of cytokinin treatment; however, those were downregulated after 30 days. Five genes FBP, SBP, GS, GDH and AGPase showed significant increase in transcript abundance after 15 days of treatment but showed a significant decrease after 30 days. These genes, after functional validation, can be suitable targets in designing a suitable genetic intervention strategy to increase overall seed yield in Jatropha.

SUBMITTER: Gangwar M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5764882 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Comparative transcriptomics reveals a reduction in carbon capture and flux between source and sink in cytokinin-treated inflorescences of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L.

Gangwar Manali M Sood Archit A Bansal Ankush A Chauhan Rajinder Singh RS

3 Biotech 20180112 1

The low seed yield of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> has been a stumbling block in realizing its full potential as an ideal bioenergy crop. Low female to male flower ratio is considered as a major limiting factor responsible for low seed yield in Jatropha. An exogenous cytokinin application was performed on floral meristems to increase the seed yield. This resulted in an increase of total flowers count with a higher female to male flower ratio. However, the seed biomass did not increase in the same prop ...[more]

PMID: 29354375

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Jatropha curcas, whose seed content is approximately 30-40% oil, is an ideal feedstock for producing biodiesel and bio-jet fuels. However, Jatropha plants have a low number of female flowers, which results in low seed yield that cannot meet the needs of the biofuel industry. Thus, increasing the number of female flowers is critical for the improvement of Jatropha seed yield. Our previous findings showed that cytokinin treatment can increase the flower number and female to male ratio and also induce bisexual flowers in Jatropha. The mechanisms underlying the influence of cytokinin on Jatropha flower development and sex determination, however, have not been clarified. RESULTS:This study examined the transcriptional levels of genes involved in the response to cytokinin in Jatropha inflorescence meristems at different time points after cytokinin treatment by 454 sequencing, which gave rise to a total of 294.6 Mb of transcript sequences. Up-regulated and down-regulated annotated and novel genes were identified, and the expression levels of the genes of interest were confirmed by qRT-PCR. The identified transcripts include those encoding genes involved in the biosynthesis, metabolism, and signaling of cytokinin and other plant hormones, flower development and cell division, which may be related to phenotypic changes of Jatropha in response to cytokinin treatment. Our analysis indicated that Jatropha orthologs of the floral organ identity genes known as ABCE model genes, JcAP1,2, JcPI, JcAG, and JcSEP1,2,3, were all significantly repressed, with an exception of one B-function gene JcAP3 that was shown to be up-regulated by BA treatment, indicating different mechanisms to be involved in the floral organ development of unisexual flowers of Jatropha and bisexual flowers of Arabidopsis. Several cell division-related genes, including JcCycA3;2, JcCycD3;1, JcCycD3;2 and JcTSO1, were up-regulated, which may contribute to the increased flower number after cytokinin treatment. CONCLUSIONS:This study presents the first report of global expression patterns of cytokinin-regulated transcripts in Jatropha inflorescence meristems. This report laid the foundation for further mechanistic studies on Jatropha and other non-model plants responding to cytokinin. Moreover, the identification of functional candidate genes will be useful for generating superior varieties of high-yielding transgenic Jatropha.

Project description:Jatropha curcas L. is a potential biofuel plant. Application of exogenous cytokinin (6-benzyladenine, BA) on its inflorescence buds can significantly increase the number of female flowers, thereby improving seed yield. To investigate which genes and signal pathways are involved in the response to cytokinin in J. curcas inflorescence buds, we monitored transcriptional activity in inflorescences at 0, 3, 12, 24, and 48 h after BA treatment using a microarray.We detected 5,555 differentially expressed transcripts over the course of the experiment, which could be grouped into 12 distinct temporal expression patterns. We also identified 31 and 131 transcripts in J. curcas whose homologs in model plants function in flowering and phytohormonal signaling pathways, respectively. According to the transcriptional analysis of genes involved in flower development, we hypothesized that BA treatment delays floral organ formation by inhibiting the transcription of the A, B and E classes of floral organ-identity genes, which would allow more time to generate more floral primordia in inflorescence meristems, thereby enhancing inflorescence branching and significantly increasing flower number per inflorescence. BA treatment might also play an important role in maintaining the flowering signals by activating the transcription of GIGANTEA (GI) and inactivating the transcription of CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and TERMINAL FLOWER 1b (TFL1b). In addition, exogenous cytokinin treatment could regulate the expression of genes involved in the metabolism and signaling of other phytohormones, indicating that cytokinin and other phytohormones jointly regulate flower development in J. curcas inflorescence buds.Our study provides a framework to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in flowering traits in response to cytokinin treatment in J. curcas inflorescence buds. The results provide valuable information related to the mechanisms of cross-talk among multiple phytohormone signaling pathways in woody plants.

Project description:Jatropha curcas L. is a potential biofuel plant. Application of exogenous cytokinin (6-benzyladenine, BA) on its inflorescence buds can significantly increase the number of female flowers, thereby improving seed yield. To investigate which genes and signal pathways are involved in the response to cytokinin in J. curcas inflorescence buds, we monitored transcriptional activity in inflorescences at 0, 3, 12, 24, and 48 h after BA treatment using a microarray. We detected 5,555 differentially expressed transcripts over the course of the experiment, which could be grouped into 12 distinct temporal expression patterns. We also identified 31 and 131 transcripts in J. curcas whose homologs in model plants function in flowering and phytohormonal signaling pathways, respectively. According to the transcriptional analysis of genes involved in flower development, we hypothesized that BA treatment delays floral organ formation by inhibiting the transcription of the A, B and E classes of floral organ-identity genes, which would allow more time to generate more floral primordia in inflorescence meristems, thereby enhancing inflorescence branching and significantly increasing flower number per inflorescence. BA treatment might also play an important role in maintaining the flowering signals by activating the transcription of GIGANTEA (GI) and inactivating the transcription of CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and TERMINAL FLOWER 1b (TFL1b). In addition, exogenous cytokinin treatment could regulate the expression of genes involved in the metabolism and signaling of other phytohormones, indicating that cytokinin and other phytohormones jointly regulate flower development in J. curcas inflorescence buds. Our study provides a framework to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in flowering traits in response to cytokinin treatment in J. curcas inflorescence buds. The results provide valuable information related to the mechanisms of cross-talk among multiple phytohormone signaling pathways in woody plants.

Project description:Jatropha curcas L. is a potential biofuel plant. Application of exogenous cytokinin (6-benzyladenine, BA) on its inflorescence buds can significantly increase the number of female flowers, thereby improving seed yield. To investigate which genes and signal pathways are involved in the response to cytokinin in J. curcas inflorescence buds, we monitored transcriptional activity in inflorescences at 0, 3, 12, 24, and 48 h after BA treatment using a microarray. We detected 5,555 differentially expressed transcripts over the course of the experiment, which could be grouped into 12 distinct temporal expression patterns. We also identified 31 and 131 transcripts in J. curcas whose homologs in model plants function in flowering and phytohormonal signaling pathways, respectively. According to the transcriptional analysis of genes involved in flower development, we hypothesized that BA treatment delays floral organ formation by inhibiting the transcription of the A, B and E classes of floral organ-identity genes, which would allow more time to generate more floral primordia in inflorescence meristems, thereby enhancing inflorescence branching and significantly increasing flower number per inflorescence. BA treatment might also play an important role in maintaining the flowering signals by activating the transcription of GIGANTEA (GI) and inactivating the transcription of CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and TERMINAL FLOWER 1b (TFL1b). In addition, exogenous cytokinin treatment could regulate the expression of genes involved in the metabolism and signaling of other phytohormones, indicating that cytokinin and other phytohormones jointly regulate flower development in J. curcas inflorescence buds. Our study provides a framework to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in flowering traits in response to cytokinin treatment in J. curcas inflorescence buds. The results provide valuable information related to the mechanisms of cross-talk among multiple phytohormone signaling pathways in woody plants. Gene expression of flower buds in response to BA was measured at 0h, 3h, 12h, 24h and 48h after 1mM 6-benzylaminopurine treatment. Three biological replicates were prepared for each time point.

Dataset Information

Comparative transcriptomics reveals a reduction in carbon capture and flux between source and sink in cytokinin-treated inflorescences of Jatropha curcas L.

Publications

Comparative transcriptomics reveals a reduction in carbon capture and flux between source and sink in cytokinin-treated inflorescences of <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L.

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