Abstract
Lumnitzera littorea (Jack) Voigt is among the most endangered mangrove species in China. The morphology and evolution of L. littorea flowers have received substantial attention for their crucial reproductive functions. However, little is known about the genomic regulation of flower development in L. littorea. In this study, we characterized the morphology of two kinds of L. littorea flowers and performed comparative analyses of transcriptome profiles of the two different flowers. Morphological observation showed that some flowers have a column embedded in the petals while others produce a stretched flower style during petal unfolding in flowering. By using RNA-seq, we obtained 138,857 transcripts that were assembled into 82,833 unigenes with a mean length of 1055.48 bp. 82,834 and 34,997 unigenes were assigned to 52 gene ontology (GO) functional groups and 364 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, respectively. A total of 4,267 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 1,794 transcription factors (TFs), were identified between two types of flowers. These TFs are mainly involved in bHLH, B3, bZIP, MYB-related, and NAC family members. We further validated that 12 MADS-box genes, including 4 MIKC-type and 8 M-type TFs, were associated with the pollinate of L. littorea by herkogamy. Our current results provide valuable information for genetic analysis of L. littorea flowering and may be useful for illuminating its adaptive evolutionary mechanisms.
Highlights
Lumnitzera littorea (Jack) Voigt. (Combretaceae, Lumnitzera genus) is a non-viviparous Indo-West Pacific mangrove species
The L. littorea flowers are hermaphroditic with red, erect petals and a deep, curved calyx tube with abundant nectar (Figures 1A,B)
Two kinds of flowers can be found before the petals are uncovered
Summary
Lumnitzera littorea (Jack) Voigt. (Combretaceae, Lumnitzera genus) is a non-viviparous Indo-West Pacific mangrove species. (Combretaceae, Lumnitzera genus) is a non-viviparous Indo-West Pacific mangrove species. In 2018, all of the wild L. littorea growing in Lingshui Dadun village died (Fan and Chen, 2006; Zhang et al, 2018). During 13 years of field observation, no seedlings or young trees were observed due to high (76%) seed abortive rate (Zhang et al, 2017). The protection of this species is facing a great challenge and the mangrove L. littorea is is listed as a plant under state protection (category II) (Zhong et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2013)
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