Comparative analysis of differentially expressed genes for biosynthesis of active ingredients in fruits of different cultivars of <i>Lycium barbarum</i> L. based on transcriptome sequencing.

Xuexia Liu; Wenqiang Fan; Huihui Jiao; Han Gao; Jianning Tang; Jinzhong Zhu; Sijun Yue; Rui Zheng

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Comparative analysis of differentially expressed genes for biosynthesis of active ingredients in fruits of different cultivars of Lycium barbarum L. based on transcriptome sequencing.

Author: Xuexia LIU ¹ ; Wenqiang FAN ¹ ; Huihui JIAO ¹ ; Han GAO ¹ ; Jianning TANG ² ; Jinzhong ZHU ³ ; Sijun YUE ¹ ; Rui ZHENG ¹
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1. Key Laboratory of Modern Molecular Breeding for Dominant and Special Crops in Ningxia, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education for Protection and Utilization of Special Biological Resources in Western China, College of Life Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China.
2. Wolfberry Industry Development Center, Yinchuan 750021, Ningxia, China.
3. Qixin Wolfberry Seedling Professional Cooperatives of Zhongning County, Zhongning 755100, Ningxia, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Lycium barbarum L.; active ingredients; differentially expressed genes; fruit development; transcriptome
MeSH: Flavonoids/metabolism*; Fruit/genetics*; Gene Expression Profiling/methods*; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Lycium/metabolism*; Metabolic Networks and Pathways; Transcriptome
From: Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2023;39(7):3015-3036
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: To explore the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to biosynthesis of active ingredients in wolfberry fruits of different varieties of Lycium barbarum L. and reveal the molecular mechanism of the differences of active ingredients, we utilized Illumina NovaSeq 6000 high-throughput sequencing technology to conduct transcriptome sequencing on the fruits of 'Ningqi No.1' and 'Ningqi No.7' during the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage. Subsequently, we compared the profiles of related gene expression in the fruits of the two varieties at different development stages. The results showed that a total of 811 818 178 clean reads were obtained, resulting in 121.76 Gb of valid data. There were 2 827, 2 552 and 2 311 DEGs obtained during the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage of 'Ningqi No. 1' and 'Ningqi No. 7', respectively, among which 2 153, 2 050 and 1 825 genes were annotated in six databases, including gene ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) and clusters of orthologous groups of proteins (KOG). In GO database, 1 307, 865 and 624 DEGs of green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage were found to be enriched in biological processes, cell components and molecular functions, respectively. In the KEGG database, the DEGs at three developmental stages were mainly concentrated in metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and plant-pathogen interaction. In KOG database, 1 775, 1 751 and 1 541 DEGs were annotated at three developmental stages, respectively. Searching the annotated genes against the PubMed database revealed 18, 26 and 24 DEGs related to the synthesis of active ingredients were mined at the green fruit stage, color turning stage and maturity stage, respectively. These genes are involved in carotenoid, flavonoid, terpenoid, alkaloid, vitamin metabolic pathways, etc. Seven DEGs were verified by RT-qPCR, which showed consistent results with transcriptome sequencing. This study provides preliminary evidences for the differences in the content of active ingredients in different Lycium barbarum L. varieties from the transcriptional level. These evidences may facilitate further exploring the key genes for active ingredients biosynthesis in Lycium barbarum L. and analyzing their expression regulation mechanism.