Abstract
Cork oaks show a high capacity of bud sprouting as a response to injury, which is important for species survival when dealing with external factors, such as drought or fires. The characterization of the cork oak transcriptome involved in the different stages of bud sprouting is essential to understanding the mechanisms involved in these processes. In this study, the transcriptional profile of different stages of bud sprouting, namely (1) dormant bud and (2) bud swollen, vs. (3) red bud and (4) open bud, was analyzed in trees growing under natural conditions. The transcriptome analysis indicated the involvement of genes related with energy production (linking the TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle and the electron transport system), hormonal regulation, water status, and synthesis of polysaccharides. These results pinpoint the different mechanisms involved in the early and later stages of bud sprouting. Furthermore, some genes, which are involved in bud development and conserved between species, were also identified at the transcriptional level. This study provides the first set of results that will be useful for the discovery of genes related with the mechanisms regulating bud sprouting in cork oak.
Highlights
Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) plays an important environmental, social, and economic role in the Mediterranean ecosystems known as “Montado” and “Dehesa”, in Portugal and Spain, respectively.The ability of cork oak to produce cork in a sustainable manner is the basis for an industry that is unique in the world
Given that no replicates were available for this dataset, we considered the Biological Coefficient Variation (BCV) to be 0.1, in line with edgeR recommendations
The results indicated that the transcriptome of bud sprouting development is mostly focused on the production of essential precursors and metabolites for the synthesis of macromolecules, such as polysaccharides, which represents most of the cell-wall biomass and energy production
Summary
Cork oak (Quercus suber L.) plays an important environmental, social, and economic role in the Mediterranean ecosystems known as “Montado” and “Dehesa”, in Portugal and Spain, respectively.The ability of cork oak to produce cork in a sustainable manner is the basis for an industry that is unique in the world. The vegetative bud phenology of long-lived species is crucial to their productivity, adaptability, and distribution [2]. The frequency of droughts in the Mediterranean is increasing significantly due to climate change, which suggests an aggravation of environmental conditions that are likely to increase the severity of water stress in plants [3]. Global warming is expected to modify the length of the growing season and distribution of forest tree species, changing the timing of phenological events and possibly causing frost or drought injuries, or even a failure to produce mature fruits and seeds. Most Mediterranean plant species, including cork oak, have a good sprouting capacity after disturbance, displaying the ability to re-sprout from basal buds when stems or crowns are severely damaged, which is of great importance for species survival. Cork oak is one of the best-adapted trees persisting in ecosystems with recurrent fire-exposure, making it one of the best candidates for reforestation programs
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