Sucrose accumulation regulation revealed through studies of the transcriptome and physiology in breeding populations of sugarcane

ABSTRACT: Background: Sugarcane is an important sugar and energy crop largely used for bioethanol production in the world. The development of sugarcane cultivars with high sucrose content and yield is one of the biggest challenges of breeding programs nowadays. To identify genes networks that underlie sucrose content and yield, we used a custom designed oligonucleotide array with 21,901 different probes to study the transcriptome from breeding populations of sugarcane contrasting to sucrose content and genotypes contrasting to photosynthesis rate. Results: Physiological and biochemical data reveals that the transcriptome profiles described here showed a close relationship between sucrose content and stem development. A total of 2135 genes were differentially expressed in at least one experimental hybridization. We identified genes related to carbohydrate metabolism, cell wall metabolism and signal transduction. The same oligoarrays was used to detect transcription in both sense and antisense orientation. The enriched functional category from antisense expressed genes reveals light harvesting and circadian clock as the two top categories that can be related to photosynthesis and yield in sugarcane. Conclusions: Knowledge on the mechanisms underlying carbon partitioning and its relationship with sucrose accumulation in sugarcane stems would help defines routes to increase yield. Our findings showed for instance that sucrose accumulation and yield in sugarcane may be regulated by hormone signaling pathways, light harvesting and circadian clock genes. Analysis of the expression data and gene category enrichment provided an insight into signaling pathways and transcriptional control contrasting in high brix and low brix plants as well as differing photosynthesis rates and yield.

ORGANISM(S): Saccharum officinarum Saccharum hybrid cultivar (mixed)

PROVIDER: GSE44389 | GEO | 2016/12/31

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA191105

REPOSITORIES: GEO