Abstract
BackgroundBamboo is a very important forest resource. However, the prolonged vegetative stages and uncertainty of flowering brings difficulties in bamboo flowers sampling. Until now, the flowering mechanism of bamboo is still unclear.ResultsIn this study, three successive stages of flowering buds and the corresponding vegetative buds (non-flowering stage) from Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascens) were collected for transcriptome analysis using Illumina RNA-Seq method. We generated about 442 million clean reads from the above samples, and 132,678 unigenes were acquired with N50 of 1080 bp. A total of 7266 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were determined. According to expression profile and gene function analysis, some environmental stress responsive and plant hormone-related DEGs were highly expressed in the inflorescence meristem formation stage (TF_1) while some floral organ development related genes were up-regulated significantly in floral organs determination stage (TF_2) and floral organs maturation (TF_3) stage, implying the essential roles of these DEGs in flower induction and maturation of Lei bamboo. Additionally, a total of 25 MADS-box unigenes were identified. Based on the expression profile, B, C/D and E clade genes were more related to floral organs development compared with A clade genes in Lei bamboo.ConclusionsThis transcriptome data presents fundamental information about the genes and pathways involved in flower induction and development of Lei bamboo. Moreover, a critical sampling method is provided which could be benefit for bamboo flowering mechanism study.
Highlights
Bamboo is a very important forest resource
Investigation into Arabidopsis thaliana reveals that the phenomenon of the flowering is controlled by diverse environmental and endogenous factors, such as temperature, light signals, day length and plant hormones [1,2,3,4]
The ABCDE model genes are widely used for understanding floral development [7], and the MADS-box genes are well known as ABC model factors to control the floral organ identity during flower development [8]
Summary
The prolonged vegetative stages and uncertainty of flowering brings difficulties in bamboo flowers sampling. The transcription factors play an important role in gene expression, thereby influencing the floral transition, the PheMADS14 and PheMADS4 obtained from moso bamboo may play vital regulatory roles in flower development [13,14,15,16]. Different from moso bamboo flowering gregariously with 60–120 years period [18], Lei bamboo flowers sporadically [19]. It suggests a similar but not identical flowering mechanism between moso bamboo and Lei bamboo. The flowering mechanism in Lei bamboo is still poorly understood
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