Transcriptome analysis of pecan seeds at different developing stages and identification of key genes involved in lipid metabolism

PLoS One. 2018 Apr 25;13(4):e0195913. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195913. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Pecan is an economically important nut crop tree due to its unique texture and flavor properties. The pecan seed is rich of unsaturated fatty acid and protein. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of the biosynthesis of fatty acids in the developing seeds. In this study, transcriptome sequencing of the developing seeds was performed using Illumina sequencing technology. Pecan seed embryos at different developmental stages were collected and sequenced. The transcriptomes of pecan seeds at two key developing stages (PA, the initial stage and PS, the fast oil accumulation stage) were also compared. A total of 82,155 unigenes, with an average length of 1,198 bp from seven independent libraries were generated. After functional annotations, we detected approximately 55,854 CDS, among which, 2,807 were Transcription Factor (TF) coding unigenes. Further, there were 13,325 unigenes that showed a 2-fold or greater expression difference between the two groups of libraries (two developmental stages). After transcriptome analysis, we identified abundant unigenes that could be involved in fatty acid biosynthesis, degradation and some other aspects of seed development in pecan. This study presents a comprehensive dataset of transcriptomic changes during the seed development of pecan. It provides insights in understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for fatty acid biosynthesis in the seed development. The identification of functional genes will also be useful for the molecular breeding work of pecan.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carya / genetics
  • Carya / growth & development*
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Lipid Metabolism*
  • Molecular Sequence Annotation
  • Plant Proteins / genetics*
  • Seeds / genetics
  • Seeds / growth & development
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / methods

Substances

  • Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was funded by Central Finance Forestry Science and Technology Extension Demonstration Fund Project grant Anhui [2016] TG02 (1708085QC70) to Songling Fu. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.