Project description:To reveal the possible molecular mechanism underpinning the male sterility induced by a sulfonyflurea herbicide tribenuron-methyl (TBM), a comparative transcriptome analysis between rapeseed plants exposed to a TBM solution of 0.2 mg/L concentration and the control (spray with water) was conducted by using Illumina digital gene expression tag profiling technology (DGE). A transcriptomic analysis of the flower buds of TBM treatment identified 208 up-regulated and 164 down-regulated differential expression genes in comparison with the control. It was showed by the genetic network that the main groups of GO terms including response to chemical and hormone stimulus (response to stress), developmental process (pollen wall and pollen exine formation), lipid metabolism, and cellular amino acid derivative biosynthesis process were significantly influenced by the TBM treatment. The cytological and transcriptomic alterations in the treated plants were in accordance with reduction of chlorophyll, photosynthetic rate, and elevation of ethylene release.