Abstract
Ornithogalum dubium is a popular ornamental monocot native to South Africa with flower colors ranging from pure white to deep orange. Gene editing based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system has recently been shown to hold potential for color improvement in ornamental flower crops. To apply this approach to Ornithogalum color manipulation, genomic or transcriptomic data must first be collected. Here, cDNA libraries of O. dubium leaves and flowers were constructed and sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2500. Over 155 million 100-bp paired-end reads were assembled into a transcriptome database of 360,689 contigs, of which 18,660 contigs were differentially expressed between leaves and flowers. Carotenoids are the main pigment imparting spectrum of orange hues to O. dubium flowers. By querying our database, we identified a total of 16 unique transcripts (unigenes) predicted to be involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway of Ornithogalum. Combining carotenoid profiles, we further inferred several key unigenes responsible for floral coloration and accumulation in O. dubium, of which the gene LCYB/comp146645_c0 was found as a suitable target to generate potentially red flower varieties of O. dubium. Our research thus provides a framework for the application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to improve this ornamental crop.
Highlights
Flower color is an important trait in the commercial value of ornamental plants, which largely determines their market demand [1]
The RNA-sequencing data were deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) database under the biological project accession number PRJNA512260 with sample accessions SRR8380847 and
Based on the BLASTX results against the Nr database, we identified 27 carotenoid-related transcripts (Table S1) from the assembled transcriptomes of leaves and combined flowers in O. dubium
Summary
Flower color is an important trait in the commercial value of ornamental plants, which largely determines their market demand [1]. Flower breeders are always looking for novel varieties with original colors This is the case for the ornamental bulb plant Ornithogalum dubium, which was introduced to the flower industry about 25 years ago from the Western and Eastern Cape of South. 5 to 25 cream, yellow or orange flowers with dark green or brown centers. This species is grown commercially for bulbs, cut flowers and potted flowers in the United States, Europe and Israel [2,3]. As the market for O. dubium has grown, the demand for novel colors such as red and other favorable traits such as improved resistance to soft rot has increased worldwide
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