Abstract
BackgroundCannabis, an important industrial crop, has a high sensitivity to photoperiods. The flowering time of cannabis is one of its important agronomic traits, and has a significant effect on its yield and quality. The CONSTANS-like (COL) gene plays a key role in the regulation of flowering in this plant. However, the specific roles of the COL gene family in cannabis are still unknown.ResultsIn this study, 13 CsCOL genes were identified in the cannabis genome. Phylogenetic analysis implied that the CsCOL proteins were divided into three subgroups, and each subgroup included conserved intron/exon structures and motifs. Chromosome distribution analysis showed that 13 CsCOL genes were unevenly distributed on 7 chromosomes, with chromosome 10 having the most CsCOL members. Collinearity analysis showed that two syntenic gene pairs of CsCOL4 and CsCOL11 were found in both rice and Gossypium raimondii. Of the 13 CsCOL genes, CsCOL6 and CsCOL12 were a pair of tandem duplicated genes, whereas CsCOL8 and CsCOL11 may have resulted from segmental duplication. Furthermore, tissue-specific expression showed that 10 CsCOL genes were preferentially expressed in the leaves, 1 CsCOL in the stem, and 2 CsCOL in the female flower. Most CsCOL exhibited a diurnal oscillation pattern under different light treatment. Additionally, sequence analysis showed that CsCOL3 and CsCOL7 exhibited amino acid differences among the early-flowering and late flowering cultivars.ConclusionThis study provided insight into the potential functions of CsCOL genes, and highlighted their roles in the regulation of flowering time in cannabis. Our results laid a foundation for the further elucidation of the functions of COL genes in cannabis.
Highlights
Cannabis, an important industrial crop, has a high sensitivity to photoperiods
Identification of 13 CsCOL genes in cannabis A total of 13 CsCOL genes were identified from the cannabis genome database (CsCOL1 through CsCOL13)
Phylogenetic relationship, and sequencing analysis of CsCOL genes To estimate the evolutionary relationships between the members of the CsCOL gene family, we investigated the structure diversity by comparing the gene structure of the CsCOL protein
Summary
An important industrial crop, has a high sensitivity to photoperiods. The flowering time of cannabis is one of its important agronomic traits, and has a significant effect on its yield and quality. The specific roles of the COL gene family in cannabis are still unknown. Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an ancient economic crop that is widely used in textiles, food, and building materials, as well as other fields [1]. Cannabis cultivars naturally grow in high-latitude areas. Cannabis germplasms have been introduced to low-latitude areas for planting, resulting in an early-flowering time. Identifying the regulatory mechanism of cannabis flowering could provide a theoretical foundation for the cultivation of cannabis varieties. Studies on the regulatory mechanism of flowering in cannabis are currently lacking
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