Abstract
BackgroundPlant height, mainly decided by main stem height, is the major agronomic trait and closely correlated to crop yield. A number of studies had been conducted on model plants and crops to understand the molecular and genetic basis of plant height. However, little is known on the molecular mechanisms of peanut main stem height.ResultsIn this study, a semi-dwarf peanut mutant was identified from 60Co γ-ray induced mutant population and designated as semi-dwarf mutant 2 (sdm2). The height of sdm2 was only 59.3% of its wild line Fenghua 1 (FH1) at the mature stage. The sdm2 has less internode number and short internode length to compare with FH1. Gene expression profiles of stem and leaf from both sdm2 and FH1 were analyzed using high throughput RNA sequencing. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, cell wall synthetic and metabolic pathways. BR, GA and IAA biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways were significantly enriched. The expression of several genes in BR biosynthesis and signaling were found to be significantly down-regulated in sdm2 as compared to FH1. Many transcription factors encoding genes were identified as DEGs.ConclusionsA large number of genes were found differentially expressed between sdm2 and FH1. These results provide useful information for uncovering the molecular mechanism regulating peanut stem height. It could facilitate identification of causal genes for breeding peanut varieties with semi-dwarf phenotype.
Highlights
Plant height, mainly decided by main stem height, is the major agronomic trait and closely correlated to crop yield
The number of branches (P < 0.05) and pods (P > 0.05) per plant was obviously more, while the 100-pod weight and 100-kernel weight were significantly decreased in sdm2 (P < 0.01)
The difference might be due to changes in cell division and cell expansion during the stem growth process, which was supported by the identification of a number of cell wall biosynthesis and metabolism enzyme encoding genes as differentially expressed genes (DEGs)
Summary
Mainly decided by main stem height, is the major agronomic trait and closely correlated to crop yield. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling pathways, cell wall synthetic and metabolic pathways. The expression of several genes in BR biosynthesis and signaling were found to be significantly down-regulated in sdm as compared to FH1. Many transcription factors encoding genes were identified as DEGs. Plant height, a decisive factor of plant architecture, is an important agronomic trait which contributes to crop yield. Stem elongation is determined by cell growth including cell division and cell expansion. The dynamic variation of plant cell wall is critical in these processes [3]. Suppression of expansin genes resulted in small, curled leaves, reduced plant height and early flowering [11,12,13,14]. EGases (endo-1,4-β-glucanases) have been proposed to modify hemicellulose network, and were involved in processes that require cell wall weakening, including cell elongation, organ abscission, and fruit softening [19]
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