[Transcriptome analysis of "Langmei" fruits and key enzyme genes structure and function prediction involved in citric...

Prunus mume "Langmei" is a relict tree species, which fruit has good medicinal value. To understand the biosynthesis pathway of citric acid, the Illumina HiSeq XTen high-throughput sequencing technology was used to get the transcriptome from "Langmei". A total of 38 936 unigenes were obtained by assembling the fruit transcripts, of which 28 311 unigenes were successfully annotated in public databases, 15 193 unigenes were mapped to 265 KEGG metabolic pathways, and 18 908 unigenes were classified into 59 GO functional subclasses, 103 unigenes encoding 15 key enzymes involved in citric acid synthesis pathway were identified and analyzed. The structural model of citrate synthetase in "Langmei" showed that it was a homodimer and the secondary structure of each monomer was mainly composed of alpha helixes. Moreover, the residues in the active site of the citrate synthetase were highly conserved. This study provides a valuable resource for identifying candidate genes involved in the citric acid biosynthesis pathway, and will promote the development and sustainable utilization of genetic resources of "Langmei".