Sex-Biased Temporal Gene Expression in Male and Female Floral Buds of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides).

Aseem Chawla,Tsering Stobdan,Ravi B Srivastava,Anil Kant,Varun Jaiswal,Rajinder S Chauhan,Emidio Albertini

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124890

Aseem Chawla, Tsering Stobdan + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124890

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Abstract

Seabuckthorn is an economically important dioecious plant in which mechanism of sex determination is unknown. The study was conducted to identify seabuckthorn homologous genes involved in floral development which may have role in sex determination. Forty four putative Genes involved in sex determination (GISD) reported in model plants were shortlisted from literature survey, and twenty nine seabuckthorn homologous sequences were identified from available seabuckthorn genomic resources. Of these, 21 genes were found to differentially express in either male or female flower bud stages. HrCRY2 was significantly expressed in female flower buds only while HrCO had significant expression in male flowers only. Among the three male and female floral development stages (FDS), male stage II had significant expression of most of the GISD. Information on these sex-specific expressed genes will help in elucidating sex determination mechanism in seabuckthorn.

Highlights

Hippophae rhamnoides commonly known as seabuckthorn belongs to the family Elaeagnaceae
Identification of seabuckthorn homologues of potential Genes involved in sex determination (GISD) and phylogenetic analysis The current study was focused on 44 Arabidopsis genes that were known to be involved in floral regulatory pathways (Table 1) and could be probable candidates for sex determination in H. rhamnoides
Results of the analysis showed that the sequences of putative seabuckthorn GISD matched with transcripts of either one plant

Summary

Introduction

Hippophae rhamnoides commonly known as seabuckthorn belongs to the family Elaeagnaceae. Seabuckthorn berries are among the most nutritious and vitamin-rich fruits found in the plant kingdom. The flesh of berries contains a diverse complex of vitamins, mineral substances such as sodium salts, potassium, calcium, carbohydrates, proteins, sugars and amino acids. Various products had been developed from the berries of seabuckthorn such as oil, juice, alcoholic beverages, candies, ice-cream, tea, jam and biscuits. The demand of seabuckthorn berries has increased in past few years due to their increased use in commercial products [5]. This increase in demand warrants its intensive cultivation, instead of just

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