Open Access

ARTICLE

Transcriptome Analysis of Auxin Drives Cone Size Regulation in Fokienia hodginsii

Shunde Su^1,2,#, Huan Chang^3,#, Xiangyang Kang^1,*, Renhua Zheng^2,*

1 Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Tree Breeding by Molecular Design, National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China
2 Key Laboratory of Timber Forest Breeding and Cultivation for Mountainous Areas in Southern China Key Laboratory of Forest Culture and Forest Product Processing Utilization of Fujian Province, Fuzhou, 350012, China
3 Basic Forestry and Proteomics Research Center, College of Forestry, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Haixia Applied Plant Systems Biology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

* Corresponding Authors: Xiangyang Kang. Email: ; Renhua Zheng. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Phytohormones in Improving Crop Production and Stress Tolerance)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(6), 1713-1723. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.027586

Received 04 November 2022; Accepted 27 February 2023; Issue published 11 April 2023

Abstract

As the reproductive organ of the endangered species Fokienia hodginsii, the size of the cones is a constraint on the reproductive renewal of the population. In this study, the molecular basis of the influence of cone size on F. hodginsii was elucidated by comparing the phenotype, biochemistry, and transcriptome of two cultivars of F. hodginsii (‘FJ431’ and ‘FJ415’). The two cultivars differed significantly in cone size, with FJ431 having a significantly larger cone size and weight than FJ415, 1.32 and 1.90 times that of FJ415, respectively. RNA-Seq analysis of both cultivars retrieved 75,940 genes whose approximate functions were classified as the pathway of response to endogenous stimulus and response to hormone and showed significant differences in the auxin-activated signaling pathway, particularly the MAPK signaling pathway-plant. Furthermore, the endogenous IAA content was significantly higher in FJ431 than in FJ415, and 1.58 and 1.29 times more IAA was present in immature and mature cones, respectively. Moreover, exogenous IAA treatment significantly induced the expression of the MAPK pathway-related gene TRINITY_DN10564_c0_g1 and significantly inhibited the expression of the MAPK pathwayrelated gene TRINITY _DN17056_c0_g1. Our work suggests that IAA can affect the cone size of F. hodginsii, most probably through the MAPK pathway. This has high theoretical and practical significance for the improvement of genetic breeding and the further cultivation of quality germplasm resources of F. hodginsii.

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