Project description:The gene expression study is part of a larger study with the objectives to investigate two populations of the wood white butterfly with different hostplant use, by assessing the female host plant preference, larval growth and developmental time, differential gene expression and microbiome diversity and composition. The aim of the gene expression analysis is to explore whether the two populations have different expression profiles in response to the host plants suggesting local adaptation. Larvae from four Swedish females and seven Catalonian females were reared on Lotus dorycnium or L. corniculatus in a split brood design experiment. Larvae were collected at two developmental timepoints, instar 3 and instar 5. In instar 5 one larvae of each sex were collected. The study included in total 66 individuals. RNA from the abdomen was extracted with RNeasy mini kit. Sample 67-72 are RNA from gut tissue extracted with Trizol. Total RNA-libraries was constructed using TruSeq RNA with poly-A selection for multiplex sequencing on a single Illumina NovaSeq6000 S1 lane with 150 bp paired-end reads at the National Genomics Infrastructure (NGI), Science for Life Laboratory (SciLife) in Stockholm. The average coverage was appr 248 X per gene and sample. The raw reads for each sample is included.
Project description:To identify the regulatory targets of the R2R3-Myb transcription factor, LjMyb14, the gene was constitutively over-expressed in Lotus japonicus under the Lotus ubiquitin promoter.
Project description:Flower-lotus with many attractive floral characteristics has been studied and discussed the most. These characteristics are used as the standards of the classification in most cases, and always attracted the attention of lotus breeders on improvement program because of associating with ornamental and economic values of lotus. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of these attractive floral features still remain largely unknown. Transcriptome sequencing technique has been established as an efficient approach for gene discovery and expression pattern identification. For some plants, a lot of important genes involved in plant critical metabolisms have been successfully identified by this technique. In the study, mass sequence data obtained from the deep sequencing of a mixed flower-bud cDNA pool from three individuals of N. nucifera provide a platform to comprehensively understand the processes of flower formation and development at the molecular level, and will greatly facilitate the genetic improvement of ornamental characteristics and the directive molecular breeding for lotus in the future.
Project description:Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) belongs to Nelumbonaceae family. Its seeds are widely consumed in Asia countries as snacks or even medicine. Besides the market values, lotus seed also plays crucial roles in lotus life cycle. Consequently, it is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding on the development of lotus seed. During its development, lotus seed undergoes cell division, expansion, reserve accumulation, desiccation and maturation phases. We observed the morphological and biochemical changes of lotus seed from 10 to 25 days after pollination (DAP) which was corresponding to the reserve synthesis and accumulation phase. The volume of the seed expanded until 20 DAP with the color of the seed coat changing from yellow-green to dark green and gradually faded again. Starch and protein rapidly accumulated from 15 to 20 DAP. To further reveal the metabolism adaptation, primary metabolites and proteins profiles were obtained from the mass spectrometry based platforms. Metabolites and enzymes involved in sugar metabolism, glycolysis, TCA cycle and amino acids metabolism schematized on their biosynthetic pathways. Both metabolic and proteomic profiles indicated more active metabolism from 10 to 15 DAP than after 20 DAP. The results provide a frame of reference for the evaluation of primary metabolism during lotus seed development.