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Transcriptomic analysis of floral initiation in litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) based on de novo RNA sequencing

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Comparative transcriptome analysis of litchi ( Litchi chinensis Sonn.) buds at two developmental stages revealed multiple processes involving various phytohormones regulating floral initiation, and expression of numerous flowering-related genes.

Abstract

Floral initiation is a critical and complicated plant developmental process involving interactions of numerous endogenous and environmental factors, but little is known about the complex network regulating floral initiation in litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). Illumina second-generation sequencing is an efficient method for obtaining massive transcriptional information resulting from phase changes in plant development. In this study, comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed with resting and emerging panicle stage buds, to gain further understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in floral initiation in litchi. Abundance analysis identified 5,928 unigenes exhibiting at least twofold differences in expression between the two bud stages. Of these, 4,622 unigenes were up-regulated and 1,306 were down-regulated in panicle-emerging buds compared with resting buds. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that unigenes exhibiting differential expression were involved in the metabolism and signal transduction of various phytohormones. The expression levels of unigenes annotated as auxin, cytokinin, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid biosynthesis were up-regulated, whereas those unigenes annotated as abscisic acid biosynthesis were down-regulated during floral initiation. In addition, 188 unigenes exhibiting sequence similarities to known flowering-related genes from other plants were differentially expressed during floral initiation. Thirteen genes were selected for confirmation of expression levels using quantitative-PCR. Our results provide abundant sequence resources for studying mechanisms underlying floral initiation in litchi and establish a platform for further studies of litchi and other evergreen fruit trees.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Gui-Bing Hu, Hui-Cong Wang and Bi-Yan Zhou for their help and advice, and Don Grierson for his suggestions concerning the English. This work was funded by the China Agricultural Research Service (CARS-33), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31201581), the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province (No. 312033).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Laboratory for South China Fruits, College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, Guangdong, China

    Hong-Na Zhang, Ji-Yuan Shen, Biao Lai, Xu-Ming Huang, Feng Ding, Zuan-Xian Su & Hou-Bin Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Ministry of Agriculture for Tropical Fruit Biology, The South Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Zhanjiang, 524091, Guangdong, China

    Yong-Zan Wei

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  1. Hong-Na Zhang
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Correspondence to Hou-Bin Chen.

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Communicated by Jim Register.

H.-N. Zhang and Y.-Z. Wei contributed equally to this work.

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Zhang, HN., Wei, YZ., Shen, JY. et al. Transcriptomic analysis of floral initiation in litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) based on de novo RNA sequencing. Plant Cell Rep 33, 1723–1735 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-014-1650-3

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