Project description:Amomum tsao-ko (Zingiberaceae) is an important edible and medicinal crop. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome of A. tsao-ko was determined using Illumina sequencing platform. The size of whole cp genome was 163,648 bp, containing a small single copy (SSC) region of 15,355 bp and a large single copy (LSC) region of 88,741 bp, which were separated by a pair of inverted repeat (IRs) regions (29,776 bp). The A. tsao-ko cp genome contained 133 genes, including eight ribosomal RNA genes (4 rRNA species), 38 transfer RNA genes (30 tRNA species) and 87 protein-coding genes (79 PCG species). The overall GC content of A. tsao-ko cp genome is 36.02%. To investigate the evolution status of A. tsao-ko, as well as Zingiberales, a phylogenetic tree with A. tsao-ko and other 16 species was constructed based on their complete chloroplast genomes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that A. tsao-ko was closely related to Alpinia zerumbet.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of pear tree comparing a resistant/tolerant cultivar with a susceptible cultivar to the Stemphylium vesicarium fungus Rocha' pear is an economically important portuguese Pyrus communis L. cultivar very susceptible to the Stemphylium vesicarium pathogenic fungus, the brown spot agent, causing huge decrease on fruit quality and yield production. Field control of brown spot disease is based in systemic application of antifungal chemicals with high economic costs and dramatic consequences to public health and environmental pollution. Plant-pathogen interactions involve a series of events encompassing constitutive and induced plant defence responses whose dissection has been a research target for control many crop diseases. The biosynthesis of cell wall polymers and antifungal compounds appear to be an efficient physical and chemical barrier to infection.To understand the molecular responses behind defence mechanisms of resistant/tolerant and susceptible cultivars of Pyrus communis L. to the S. vesicarium fungus, cDNA microarray technology was used to identify the genes differentially expressed along a time course leaf inoculation between 'Rocha' pear cultivar (a high susceptible cultivar) and 'Ercolini' pear cultivar (a resistant/tolerant pear cultivar). This study aims to contribute with information on the molecular mechanisms involved in host-pathogen interactions responsible for pear tree brown spot disease and resistance to Stemphylium vesicarium.
Project description:Amomum tsao-ko, as an edible and medicinal variety, has been cultivated for more than 600 years in China. Recently, two cultivars, A. tsao-ko and Amomum paratsao-ko, were found in A. tsao-ko planting area. The two cultivars are often confused because of the similar phenotype and difficult to distinguish through sensory judgment. In this study, the non-targeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics combined with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were used for dissecting the two cultivars with phenotypic differences. According to principal component analysis (PCA) loading diagram and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) S-plot of the metabolites, the accumulation of major components including 1,8-cineole, α-phellandrene, (E)-2-decenal, (-)-β-pinene, (E)-2-octenal, 1-octanal, D-limonene, and decanal, were present differences between the two cultivars. Seven metabolites potential differentiated biomarkers as β-selinene, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane, (E,Z)-2,6-dodecadienal, (E)-2-hexenal, (E)-2-decenal, isogeranial, 1,8-cineole and β-cubebene were determined. Although A. tsao-ko and A. paratsao-ko belong to the same genera and are similar in plant and fruit morphology, the composition and content of the main components were exposed significant discrepancy, so it is necessary to distinguish them. In this study, the discriminant model established by GC-MS or NIRS combined with multivariate analysis has achieved a good classification effect. NIRS has the advantages of simple, fast and nondestructive and can be used for rapid identification of varieties and fruit tissues.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of pear tree comparing a resistant/tolerant cultivar with a susceptible cultivar to the Stemphylium vesicarium fungus Rocha' pear is an economically important portuguese Pyrus communis L. cultivar very susceptible to the Stemphylium vesicarium pathogenic fungus, the brown spot agent, causing huge decrease on fruit quality and yield production. Field control of brown spot disease is based in systemic application of antifungal chemicals with high economic costs and dramatic consequences to public health and environmental pollution. Plant-pathogen interactions involve a series of events encompassing constitutive and induced plant defence responses whose dissection has been a research target for control many crop diseases. The biosynthesis of cell wall polymers and antifungal compounds appear to be an efficient physical and chemical barrier to infection.To understand the molecular responses behind defence mechanisms of resistant/tolerant and susceptible cultivars of Pyrus communis L. to the S. vesicarium fungus, cDNA microarray technology was used to identify the genes differentially expressed along a time course leaf inoculation between 'Rocha' pear cultivar (a high susceptible cultivar) and 'Ercolini' pear cultivar (a resistant/tolerant pear cultivar). This study aims to contribute with information on the molecular mechanisms involved in host-pathogen interactions responsible for pear tree brown spot disease and resistance to Stemphylium vesicarium. Experimental condition: 'Ercolini' vs 'Rocha' (each experiment including 5 plants from each cultivar). 3 time-points: water-inoculation (T0h), 6 hours after inoculation with S. vesicarium (T6h) and 24 hours after inoculation with S. vesicarium. Biological replicates: 3 in each time-point. One replicate per array.