Transcriptome analysis reveals the regulation of brassinosteroids on petal growth in Gerbera hybrida

Gerbera hybrida is a cut-flower crop of global importance, and an understanding of the mechanisms underlying petal development is vital for the continued commercial development of this plant species. Brassinosteroids (BRs), a class of phytohormones, are known to play a major role in cell expansion, but their effect on petal growth in G. hybrida is largely unexplored. In this study, we found that the brassinolide (BL), the most active BR, promotes petal growth by lengthening cells in the middle and basal regions of petals, and that this effect on petal growth was greater than that of gibberellin (GA). The RNA-seq (high-throughput cDNA sequencing) technique was employed to investigate the regulatory mechanisms by which BRs control petal growth. A global transcriptome analysis of the response to BRs in petals was conducted and target genes regulated by BR were identified. These differentially expressed genes (DEGs) include various transcription factors (TFs) that were activated during the early stage (0.5 h) of BL treatment, as well as cell wall proteins whose expression was regulated at a late stage (10 h). BR-responsive DEGs are involved in multiple plant hormone signal pathways, hormone biosynthesis and biotic and abiotic stress responses, showing that the regulation of petal growth by BRs is a complex network of processes. Thus, our study provides new insights at the transcriptional level into the molecular mechanisms of BR regulation of petal growth in G. hybrida.