Project description:To gain insights into the molecular mechanisms controlling bamboo growth, mRNA differential display was used to clone genes that are differentially expressed in various tissues of shoots at different growth stages, and their expression patterns were further validated by cDNA microarray. A number of genes and signaling pathways are proposed to have significant roles in controlling the elongation of the bamboo culm. Etiolated shoots (average height: 15 cm) that had not yet emerged from the ground and green shoots (average height: 100 cm) of Bambusa oldhamii were collected. The shoots were divided into three parts, the culm base, the middle and the top regions for RNA extraction and processing. The RNA from the middle region of the etiolated shoots was used as a reference in microarray comparisons.
