Integrated lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the mechanism of lipid biosynthesis and accumulation during seed development in sesame

Yujuan Zhang; Huihui Gong; Xinxiao Cui; Chunhua Gao; Nana Li; Yanyan Pu; Xiurong Zhang; Junsheng Zhao

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1211040

Integrated lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses reveal the mechanism of lipid biosynthesis and accumulation during seed development in sesame

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 22:14:1211040. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1211040. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yujuan Zhang¹, Huihui Gong¹, Xinxiao Cui¹, Chunhua Gao¹, Nana Li², Yanyan Pu², Xiurong Zhang¹, Junsheng Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Industrial Crops, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, China.
² Institute of Crop Germplasm Resources, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, China.

Abstract

Sesame is one of the most important oilseed crops and attracts significant attention because of its huge nutritional capacity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying oil accumulation in sesame remains poorly understood. In this study, lipidomic and transcriptomic analyses in different stages of sesame seed (Luzhi No.1, seed oil content 56%) development were performed to gain insight into the regulatory mechanisms that govern differences in lipid composition, content, biosynthesis, and transport. In total, 481 lipids, including fatty acids (FAs, 38 species), triacylglycerol (TAG, 127 species), ceramide (33 species), phosphatidic acid (20 species), and diacylglycerol (17 species), were detected in developing sesame seed using gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Most FAs and other lipids accumulated 21-33 days after flowering. RNA-sequence profiling in developing seed highlighted the enhanced expression of genes involved in the biosynthesis and transport of FAs, TAGs, and membrane lipids, which was similar to that seen during lipid accumulation. Through the differential expression analysis of genes involved in lipid biosynthesis and metabolism during seed development, several candidate genes were found to affect the oil content and FA composition of sesame seed, including ACCase, FAD2, DGAT, G3PDH, PEPCase, WRI1 and WRI1-like genes. Our study reveals the patterns of lipid accumulation and biosynthesis-related gene expression and lays an important foundation for the further exploration of sesame seed lipid biosynthesis and accumulation.

Keywords: fatty acid; lipid biosynthesis; lipidome; seed development; sesame; transcriptome.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Technological Innovation Project of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CXGC2023A45, CXGC2022B01, CXGC2022F18) and the Shandong Science and Technology SME Innovation Capacity Improvement Project (2021TSGC1209). The funding bodies was not involved in data collection, analysis, interpretation, and writing of the manuscript.