Insights on seed abortion (endosperm and embryo development failure) from the transcriptome analysis of the wild type plant species Paeonia lutea

Shanshan Zhang

doi:10.6026/97320630016638

Abstract

Paeonia lutea is a wild peony (an endangered flowering plant species) found in China. Seed abortion (endosperm and embryo development failure) is linked to several endangered plant species. Therefore, it is of interest to complete a comparative analysis of transcriptome between the normal active seeds (Population A) and the endangered abortion seeds (Population H). Data from GO assignments of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) shows that "metabolic process", "binding", "cellular process", "catalytic activity", "cell" and "cell part" are commonly prevalent in these popuations. DEGs between the populations are found to be connected with metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, purine metabolism and ribosome. We used quantitative RT-PCR to validate 16 DEGs associated with these populations. It is found that histone genes and proline-rich extensin genes are predominant in the common groups. Histone genes (H2A, H2B, H3, H4 and linker histone H1) show 3 to 4 folds log2FC higher expession in population A than in population H in stage I unlike in stage II and III. Increased activity of proline-rich extensin genes in population A than in population H corresponding to seed abortion in the later population is implied. These preliminary data from the transcriptome analysis of the wild type plant species Paeonia lutea provide valuable insights on seed abortion.

Highlights

Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) is an important, traditional and most well-known ornamental and medicinal plant in the world due to its colorful flowers and medicinal values, which belongs to Moutan subfamily, the genus Paeonia, family Paeoniaceae
Natural reproduction of Paeonia lutea is mainly by root suckers and seeds, and most of the populations can breed with seeds by themselves and keep a normal growth state
It is of interest to complete a comparative analysis of transcriptome between the normal active seeds and the endangered abortion seeds to derive meta-data for explaining seed abortion in Materials and methods: Plant materials: The experiments were conducted at Nyingchi Prefecture (29°34′N, 94°37′W), Tibet, China, using wild Paeonia lutea populations as plant materials

Summary

Introduction

Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) is an important, traditional and most well-known ornamental and medicinal plant in the world due to its colorful flowers and medicinal values, which belongs to Moutan subfamily, the genus Paeonia, family Paeoniaceae [1, 2]. Paeonia lutea is considered to be the most precious resource for tree peony cultivar breeding [1] It was classified as rare and endangered plants in 1987 in China. It has been reported that seedling numbers and total plant numbers of Paeonia lutea in natural environments declined year by year during the past 20 years [5] It is endangered for its small quantity and narrow distribution. While some populations has been observed with seed abortion problem, the seeds of these plants were small, thin and showed extremely low activity. It is severe for its propagation and may exacerbate its endangering rate. There are very few researches focused on its seed abortion mechanisms

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