Project description:In plants, microRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in post-transcriptional gene regulation and have been shown to control many genes involved in various biological and metabolic processes. Deep sequencing technologies have facilitated identification of species-specific or lowly expressed as well as conserved or highly expressed miRNAs in plants. Strawberry is one of the most economically important fruit throughout the world.Although miRNAs have been extensively studied in the past five years, limited systematic study of miRNAs has been performed on the Fragaria genus. These results show that regulatory miRNAs exist in agronomically important strawberry and may play an important role in strawberry growth, development, and response to disease. High throughput sequencing was employed to identify miRNAs in strawberry and try to describe their functions in strawberry growth and development
Project description:By employing the high-throughput sequencing technology, we comprehensively analyzed the transcriptomic and miRNA expression profiles simultaneously in ABA- and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA, an ABA biosynthesis blocker)-treated strawberry fruits with a temporal resolution. The miRNAs target genes were validated by degradome sequencing.
Project description:With the development of high throughput sequencing technologies, plenty of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been discovered to play important roles in diverse plant biological processes. Although these ncRNAs extensively exist in plant, their biological functions are still remained to characterize. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) function in strawberry fruit ripening progress, we performed transcriptomic analyses on the diploid strawberry Fragaria vesca in a time-course during fruit ripening. Here, we have identified 25,613 lncRNAs based on RNA-seq data from poly(A)-depleted libraries and rRNA-depleted libraries. Among them, most of lncRNAs exhibit stage-specific expression pattern. Functional analysis on F.vesca endogenous FRUIT RIPENING-RELATED LONG ANTISENSE INTERGENIC RNA (FRILAIR) in octaploid strawberry Falandi, we found that overexpression FRILAIR can compete miR397 to regulate its target laccase genes (LACs), and it may contribute to strawberry ripening. Our findings demonstrate that FRILAIR can act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) by disturbing miR397 to repress expression level of LACs, and would be valuable for strawberry ripening.
Project description:Pink-flowered strawberry is a new promising ornamental flower derived from intergeneric hybridization (Fragaria × Potentilla) with bright color, prolonged flowering period and edible fruits. However, the transcriptional events underlying anthocyanins biosynthesis pathway have not been fully characterized in its petal coloration. The pigment compounds accumulated in its fruits were the same as cultivated strawberry, but different from in its flowers. To gain insights into the regulatory networks related to anthocyanin biosynthesis and identify key genes, we performed an integrated analyses of the transcriptome and metabolomes involved in red petals at three development stages (Bud stage (L), Coloration beginning stage (Z) and Big bud stage (D)) of pink-flowered strawberry. Transcript and metabolite profiles were generated through high-throughput RNA-sequencing and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, respectively. The results showed that the main pigments of red and dark pink petals were anthocyanins, among which cyanidins were the main compounds. There were no anthocyanins detected in white-flowered hybrids. A total of 50 285 non-redundant unigenes were obtained from the transcriptome databases, among which 59 differentially expressed genes could be identified as putative homologues of flower coloration related genes. Based on a comprehensive analysis relating pigmentation compounds to gene expression profiles, the mechanism of flower color formation was examined in pink-flowered strawberry. Furthermore, a new hypothesis explaining the lack of color phenotype of the white-flowered strawberry hybrids from the level of the transcriptome. The expression patterns of FpDFR gene and FpANS gene corresponded to the accumulation patterns of cyanidin contents in pink-flowered strawberry hybrids with different shades of pink; Whereas other anthocyanin biosynthesis genes were weakly related flower color deepened. Moreover, FpANS, FpBZ1 and FpUGT75C1 genes were the key factors that lead to the inability to accumulate anthocyanins in the white petals of PFS hybrids. Meanwhile, the competitive effect of FpFLS gene and FpDFR gene may further inhibit anthocyanin synthesis. The data presented herein are important for understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the petal pigmentation and will be powerful for integrating into novel genes that are potential targets for breeding new valuable pink-flowered strawberry cultivars.