Combined RNA-seq and Phenotype Analysis Reveals a Potential Molecular Mechanism of the Difference in Grain Size of Naked Barley From the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Front Plant Sci

Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Molecular Breeding, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China.

Published: February 2022

To understand the molecular mechanism controlling the size of barley grains, a number of traits were analyzed and RNA-seq was conducted on grains of two barley materials with a significant difference in thousand-grain weight (TGW) after flowering. The trait dataset delineates the dynamic changes in grain size after flowering, and it provides an understanding of the source of the difference in TGW. By comparing the transcripts of barley grains at several stages after flowering, we identified the gene expression characteristics and significantly enriched pathways in each stage. At the early stage of grain development, genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, plant hormone signal transduction, and pathways involved in cytoskeleton formation were significantly upregulated. At the later stage of grain development, genes involved in starch synthesis, glucose metabolism, and other pathways were significantly upregulated. Further, we used weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) and correlation analysis of trait datasets to identify the coexpressed gene modules significantly associated with traits, such as grain length (GL), grain width (GW), and dry weight (DW). After comparing the modules with the differentially expressed gene (DEG) set, 12 candidate genes were selected, and among these, four genes were homologous to genes that regulate grain size in rice and other plants. The combined analysis identified many potential key regulatory factors that may control barley grain size and yield potential, thus providing new insights into the molecular mechanism of barley grain size.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8847792PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.822607DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

grain size
20
molecular mechanism
12
grain
9
barley grains
8
stage grain
8
grain development
8
development genes
8
genes involved
8
barley grain
8
size
6

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!