Abstract
Elucidating the cold tolerance mechanism of Paeonia lactiflora, which is one of the most valuable ornamental and medicinal plants in Asia, fundamentally impacts its breeding and production. The glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) gene plays a pivotal role in cold resistance in a variety of plant species. Here, we cloned the P. lactiflora GPAT gene, determined its expression pattern, and tested its role in cold resistance. We obtained the full-length P. lactiflora GPAT gene using tissue-cultured seedlings and real-time polymerase chain reaction and rapid amplification of cDNA ends analyses. We named this gene PlGPAT in P. lactiflora. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the PlGPAT gene is closely related with the GPAT genes in core eudicots. The phylogenetic tree containing 31 angiosperm species based on GPAT protein sequences is largely consistent with the known phylogeny in flowering plants. We conducted a time-course PlGPAT expression analysis and demonstrated that PlGPAT expression is correlated with low-temperature stress. Our results suggest that the PlGPAT gene plays an important role in regulating cold resistance in P. lactiflora.
Highlights
Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae, contains some of the most prestigious and valuable ornamental flowering plants
We obtained a 1,359 bp cDNA when verifying the P. lactiflora glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) gene open reading frame (ORF) sequence with 3 bp in the 50- untranslated region (UTR), 12 bp in the 30-UTR and 1,347 bp in the complete ORF based on sequence assembly and a preliminary analysis (Fig 1)
The analysis of the nucleotide sequence showed that the P. lactiflora GPAT gene transcript contains 1,702 bp, with a 1,347 bp ORF, a 33 bp 50-UTR, and a 322 bp 30-UTR
Summary
The only genus in the family Paeoniaceae, contains some of the most prestigious and valuable ornamental flowering plants. The current Paeonia genus contains 33 known species [1]. Paeonia species are mostly distributed in Asia, Europe and Western North America. Paeonia plants have high ornamental, medicinal, and economical value [2]. Within Paeonia, Paeonia lactiflora Pall (Chinese peony or common garden peony) is an herbaceous perennial plant and is one of the most important traditional flowering plant species in China. Paeonia lactiflora is a typical temperate zone plant that can adapt to a wide range of ecological conditions. P. lactiflora is highly cold-tolerant, making it an excellent genetic resource for cold resistance breeding [3].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
