Analysis of oil synthesis metabolism pathways based on transcrip-tomechanges in tung oil tree’s seeds during three different develop-ment stages

Abstract

Tung oil tree (Verniciafordii) is one of the important woody oil plants in China. Past researches on tung oil tree mainly focu on the cultivation and conventional breeding while the molecular mechanisms related to tung oil synthesis are still uncovered. We compared transcriptome of tung oil tree's seeds at three different oil synthesis stages using RNA-seq technology and then obtained a lot of differentially expressed Unigenes. Through GO classification and pathway enrichment analysis, all of these differentially expressed Unigenes were classified into 128 metabolism pathways including fatty acid biosynthesis and glycerophospholipid metabolism which are involved in oil synthesis. Some homologous proteins of key enzymes were obtained when the sequences of the Unigenes within these two pathways were aligned against KEGG database. Through analysis of expression profiles of these key enzyme genes during seed's oil synthesis stage, this research not only shed light on elucidation of plant oil synthesis but also provides candidate genes for genetic improvement of tung oil tree thereby increasing the yield per unit area of tung oil tree.