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Gibberellin stimulates regrowth after defoliation of sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis) by regulating expression of fructan-related genes

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Abstract

Gibberellins (GAs) affect forage growth and development; however, it is largely unknown how GAs regulate the metabolism of fructan (an important polysaccharide reserve in many cereals) and the regrowth of forage plants after defoliation. To explore the mechanism of the responses of defoliated sheepgrass [Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel] to GA, we sprayed defoliated sheepgrass with GA3 and/or paclobutrazol (PAC; an inhibitor of GA biosynthesis) and analyzed the growth characteristics, carbohydrate contents, and transcript levels of genes related to GA metabolism, GA signal transduction, and fructan metabolism. The results showed that spraying exogenous GA3 onto defoliated sheepgrass promoted leaf and internode elongation, while spraying with PAC inhibited leaf and internode elongation, compared with the control. Spraying GA3 onto defoliated sheepgrass also altered the fructan content by extending the period of fructan utilization. At the transcriptional level, exogenous GA3 increased the transcript levels of genes related to GA metabolism in the sheath. Taken together, our results suggest that exogenous GA3 stimulates the regrowth of defoliated sheepgrass regrowth by regulating GA and fructan-related genes, and by promoting endogenous GA synthesis, fructan metabolism, and signaling.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (“973”, 2014CB138704), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31470411), and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (“863”, 2011AA100209).

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Correspondence to Gongshe Liu or Shuangyan Chen.

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Y. Cai and L. Shao contributed equally to this work.

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Cai, Y., Shao, L., Li, X. et al. Gibberellin stimulates regrowth after defoliation of sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis) by regulating expression of fructan-related genes. J Plant Res 129, 935–944 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0832-1

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