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Published on: November 1, 2014
Study on differentially expressed genes related to defoliation traits in two alfalfa varieties based on RNA-Seq
Qiming Cheng1, Shiqie Bai2, Gentu Ge1
1College of Grassland Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Forage Cultivation, Processing and High Efficient Utilization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Key Laboratory of Grassland Resources of the Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, 010011, China.
Background:
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a widely cultivated, essential commercial forage crop. The protein content in its leaves is the critical factor in determining the quality of alfalfa. Thus far, the understanding of the molecular mechanism of alfalfa defoliation traits remains unclear. The transcriptome database created by RNA-Seq is used to identify critical genes related to defoliation traits.
Results:
In this study, we sequenced the transcriptomes of the Zhungeer variety (with easy leaf abscission) and WL319HQ variety (without easy leaf abscission). Among the identified 66,734 unigenes, 706 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) upregulated, and 392 unigenes downregulated in the Zhungeer vs WL319HQ leaf. KEGG pathway annotations showed that 8,414 unigenes were annotated to 87 pathways and contained 281 DEGs. Six DEGs belonging to the "Carotenoid biosynthesis", "Plant hormone signal transduction" and "Circadian rhythm-plant" pathways involved in defoliation traits were identified and validated by RT-qPCR analyses.
Conclusions:
This study used RNA-Seq to discover genes associated with defoliation traits between two alfalfa varieties. Our transcriptome data dramatically enriches alfalfa functional genomic studies. In addition, these data provide theoretical guidance for field production practice and genetic breeding, as well as references for future study of defoliation traits in alfalfa.
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