Abstract
Grain-size is one of the yield components, and the first 14 days after pollination (DAP) is a crucial stage for wheat grain-size formation. To understand the mechanism of grain-size formation at the whole gene expression level and to identify the candidate genes related to grain pattern formation, cDNA libraries from immature grains of 5 DAP and 14 DAP were constructed. According to transcriptome analysis, a total of 12,555 new genes and 9,358 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained. In DEGs, 2,876, 3,357 and 3,125 genes were located on A, B and D subgenome respectively. 9,937 (79.15%) new genes and 9,059 (96.80%) DEGs were successfully annotated. For DEGs, 4,453 were up-regulated and 4,905 were down-regulated at 14 DAP. The Gene Ontology (GO) database indicated that most of the grain-size-related genes were in the same cluster. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database analysis showed that 130, 129 and 20 DEGs were respectively involved in starch and sucrose metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction and ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Expression levels of 8 randomly selected genes were confirmed by qRT-PCR, which was consistent with the transcriptome data. The present database will help us understand the molecular mechanisms underlying early grain development and provide the foundation for increasing grain-size and yield in wheat breeding programs.
Highlights
Wheat is the second largest crop in the world, it feeds nearly 30% of the world population [1]
The results of this study showed that 130 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in starch and sucrose metabolism in early grain formation, indicating that these genes expressed at 14 days after pollination (DAP) much more likely play important roles for following grain-filling developmental stage
The important candidate genes related to grain-size have been identified and they were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, transcription, signal transduction, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis metabolism and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum
Summary
Wheat is the second largest crop in the world, it feeds nearly 30% of the world population [1]. With a growing human population and rising demand for wheat, there is a great challenge to global wheat security. There is an urgent need to increase wheat yield and improving grain yield is becoming the major goal of wheat breeding. Analysis of important candidate genes involved in grain-size formation in wheat. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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