De Novo Assembly and Characterization of Pericarp Transcriptome and Identification of Candidate Genes Mediating Fruit Cracking in Litchi chinensis Sonn.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Wei-Cai Li²  Jian-Yang Wu¹  Hong-Na Zhang²  Sheng-You Shi²  Li-Qin Liu²  Bo Shu²  Qing-Zhi Liang²  Jiang-Hui Xie²  Yong-Zan Wei² 

[1] Basic Education College of Zhanjiang Normal University, Zhanjiang 524037, China; E-Mail:;Key Laboratory of Tropical Fruit Biology (Ministry of Agriculture), South Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Zhanjiang 524091, China; E-Mails:

关键词: Litchi chinensis Sonn.;    transcriptome;    pericarp;    RNA-Seq;    cracking;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms151017667

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Fruit cracking has long been a topic of great concern for growers and researchers of litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.). To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying fruit cracking, high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was first used for de novo assembly and characterization of the transcriptome of cracking pericarp of litchi. Comparative transcriptomic analyses were performed on non-cracking and cracking fruits. A total of approximately 26 million and 29 million high quality reads were obtained from the two groups of samples, and were assembled into 46,641 unigenes with an average length of 993 bp. These unigenes can be useful resources for future molecular studies of the pericarp in litchi. Furthermore, four genes (LcAQP, 1; LcPIP, 1; LcNIP, 1; LcSIP, 1) involved in water transport, five genes (LcKS, 2; LcGA2ox, 2; LcGID1, 1) involved in GA metabolism, 21 genes (LcCYP707A, 2; LcGT, 9; Lcβ-Glu, 6; LcPP2C, 2; LcABI1, 1; LcABI5, 1) involved in ABA metabolism, 13 genes (LcTPC, 1; Ca²⁺/H⁺ exchanger, 3; Ca²⁺-ATPase, 4; LcCDPK, 2; LcCBL, 3) involved in Ca transport and 24 genes (LcPG, 5; LcEG, 1; LcPE, 3; LcEXP, 5; Lcβ-Gal, 9; LcXET, 1) involved in cell wall metabolism were identified as genes that are differentially expressed in cracked fruits compared to non-cracked fruits. Our results open new doors to further understand the molecular mechanisms behind fruit cracking in litchi and other fruits, especially Sapindaceae plants.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.