Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)

Red-fleshed pummelo (Citrus grandis), a mutant of ‘Guanxi’, is an important economic plant rich in carotenoids. The transcriptome of ‘Guanxi’ pummelo was compared with red-fleshed pummelo, with the aim of identifying the key genes responsible for red flesh through RNA sequencing. In total, 44.11 and...

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Main Authors: Dongxia Wang, Shiming Li, Le Wei, Zongren Li, Baolong Liu, Dong Cao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020-01-01
Series:Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1792341
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author Dongxia Wang
Shiming Li
Le Wei
Zongren Li
Baolong Liu
Dong Cao
author_facet Dongxia Wang
Shiming Li
Le Wei
Zongren Li
Baolong Liu
Dong Cao
author_sort Dongxia Wang
collection DOAJ
description Red-fleshed pummelo (Citrus grandis), a mutant of ‘Guanxi’, is an important economic plant rich in carotenoids. The transcriptome of ‘Guanxi’ pummelo was compared with red-fleshed pummelo, with the aim of identifying the key genes responsible for red flesh through RNA sequencing. In total, 44.11 and 47.71 Gb clean reads were respectively obtained after filtering in red and white flesh. Altogether 46,425 unigenes, with an average length of 1208 bp, were assembled. Compared with that of white flesh, 3722 genes were up-regulated, whereas 1421 genes appeared down-regulated in the red-fleshed pummelo. A GO analysis assigned 11,983 differentially expressed genes to 53 subcategories, and 3582, 4722 and 3679 differentially expressed genes were involved in biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions, respectively. The mevalonate pathway involved in terpenoid backbone biosynthesis was significantly different between ‘Guanxi’ pummelo and its red-fleshed mutant, and the differences were closely associated with carotenoid biosynthesis. The expression levels of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes were different between ‘Guanxi’ pummelo and its red-fleshed mutant, with the upstream genes having higher expression levels in red-fleshed pummelo than in ‘Guanxi’ pummelo, whereas the downstream gene β-CHX was downregulated. Two bHLH transcription factors (CL4778.Contig1 and CL4778.Contig2) were of the same branch as CubHLH1, regulating carotenoid biosynthesis in Citrus unshiu Marc., and Unigene CL4778.Contig2 had expression differences in two kinds of pummelo, which suggested CL4778.Contig2 should be a candidate gene controlling carotenoid accumulation in red pummelo. The study would be beneficial to identify the major gene regulating the red flesh trait.
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spelling doaj.art-89f90ab832c542399a7deddd81eb901e2022-12-21T22:10:59ZengTaylor & Francis GroupBiotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment1310-28181314-35302020-01-0134161462210.1080/13102818.2020.17923411792341Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)Dongxia Wang0Shiming Li1Le Wei2Zongren Li3Baolong Liu4Dong Cao5Department of Agriculture and Forestry, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai UniversityQinghai Province Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Life Sciences, College of Biologic and Geographic Sciences, Qinghai Normal UniversityDepartment of Agriculture and Forestry, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai UniversityQinghai Province Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Agriculture and Forestry, College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai UniversityRed-fleshed pummelo (Citrus grandis), a mutant of ‘Guanxi’, is an important economic plant rich in carotenoids. The transcriptome of ‘Guanxi’ pummelo was compared with red-fleshed pummelo, with the aim of identifying the key genes responsible for red flesh through RNA sequencing. In total, 44.11 and 47.71 Gb clean reads were respectively obtained after filtering in red and white flesh. Altogether 46,425 unigenes, with an average length of 1208 bp, were assembled. Compared with that of white flesh, 3722 genes were up-regulated, whereas 1421 genes appeared down-regulated in the red-fleshed pummelo. A GO analysis assigned 11,983 differentially expressed genes to 53 subcategories, and 3582, 4722 and 3679 differentially expressed genes were involved in biological processes, cellular components and molecular functions, respectively. The mevalonate pathway involved in terpenoid backbone biosynthesis was significantly different between ‘Guanxi’ pummelo and its red-fleshed mutant, and the differences were closely associated with carotenoid biosynthesis. The expression levels of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes were different between ‘Guanxi’ pummelo and its red-fleshed mutant, with the upstream genes having higher expression levels in red-fleshed pummelo than in ‘Guanxi’ pummelo, whereas the downstream gene β-CHX was downregulated. Two bHLH transcription factors (CL4778.Contig1 and CL4778.Contig2) were of the same branch as CubHLH1, regulating carotenoid biosynthesis in Citrus unshiu Marc., and Unigene CL4778.Contig2 had expression differences in two kinds of pummelo, which suggested CL4778.Contig2 should be a candidate gene controlling carotenoid accumulation in red pummelo. The study would be beneficial to identify the major gene regulating the red flesh trait.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1792341pummelored fleshcarotenoid biosynthesistranscriptome analysisbhlh
spellingShingle Dongxia Wang
Shiming Li
Le Wei
Zongren Li
Baolong Liu
Dong Cao
Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment
pummelo
red flesh
carotenoid biosynthesis
transcriptome analysis
bhlh
title Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
title_full Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
title_fullStr Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
title_full_unstemmed Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
title_short Transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo (Citrus maxima)
title_sort transcriptome analysis identifies key genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis in the flesh of red pummelo citrus maxima
topic pummelo
red flesh
carotenoid biosynthesis
transcriptome analysis
bhlh
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1792341
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