Abstract
The morphological and functional diversity of plant form is governed by dynamic gene regulatory networks. In cereal crops, grain and/or pollen-bearing inflorescences exhibit vast architectural diversity and developmental complexity, yet the underlying genetic framework is only partly known. Setaria viridis is a small, rapidly growing grass species in the subfamily Panicoideae, a group that includes economically important cereal crops such as maize and sorghum. The S. viridis inflorescence displays complex branching patterns, but its early development is similar to that of other panicoid grasses, and thus is an ideal model for studying inflorescence architecture. Here we report a detailed transcriptional resource that captures dynamic transitions across six sequential stages of S. viridis inflorescence development, from reproductive onset to floral organ differentiation. Co-expression analyses identified stage-specific signatures of development, which include homologs of previously known developmental genes from maize and rice, suites of transcription factors and gene family members, and genes of unknown function. This spatiotemporal co-expression map and associated analyses provide a foundation for gene discovery in S. viridis inflorescence development, and a comparative model for exploring related architectural features in agronomically important cereals.
Highlights
Extensive morphological diversity is exhibited by inflorescences across grass species, family Poaceae
By 10 days after sowing (DAS), the shoot apical meristem (SAM) had transitioned to the inflorescence meristem (IM) and branch meristems (BMs) were initiated but barely visible (Figure 1B)
By 18 DAS, floral organs such as lemma, palea, and anther primordia formed in the spikelets, and bristles further elongated and produced prickle hairs (Doust and Kellogg, 2002; Figures 1I,L)
Summary
Extensive morphological diversity is exhibited by inflorescences across grass species, family Poaceae. These included orthologs of previously characterized developmental regulators from maize and rice, as well as many uncharacterized family members with potential functions in inflorescence development based on their co-expression patterns.
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