Project description:In angiosperms, the mature seed consists of an embryo (E), a seed coat (SC), and, in many cases, an endosperm. In contrast to knowledge about embryo and endosperm, we have relatively little knowledge of SC, especially at the genomics level. In this study, we analyzed the gene expression during seed development using the panel of cultivated and wild pea genotypes. We report the comprehensive gene expression changes related both to development as well as domestication status. Analysis of seed developmental stages revealed extensive modification of gene expression between wild pea progenitor and cultivated pea crop. A significant difference in gene expression dynamics appeared between early and late developmental stages D1, D2, and D3, D4, D5 in wild pea genotypes, where the expression was increased 3-5-fold and 5-10-fold, respectively. Our work extends knowledge about the role of the seed coat during pea seed development. We described gene expression dynamic resulting in specific metabolic profiles providing new insight into pea domestication.
Project description:We hypothesized that the genome segments of cultivated barley should show certain similarity with its ancestral wild barley. Instead of whole genome sequences, we employed RNA-Seq to investigated the genomic origin of modern cultivated barley using some representative wild barley genotypes from the Near East and Tibet, and representative world-wide selections of cultivated barley.