Abstract
The high chromosome numbers, polyploid genomes, and long juvenile phases of most ornamental orchid species render functional genomics difficult and limit the discovery of genes influencing horticultural traits. The orchid Erycina pusilla has a low chromosome number (2n = 12) and flowers in vitro within 1 year, making it a standout candidate for use as a model orchid. However, transcriptomic and genomic information from E. pusilla remains limited. In this study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology was used to identify 90,668 unigenes by de novo assembly. These unigenes were annotated functionally and analyzed with regard to their gene ontology (GO), clusters of orthologous groups (COG), and KEGG pathways. To validate the discovery methods, a homolog of CONSTANS (CO), one of the key genes in the flowering pathway, was further analyzed. The Arabidopsis CO-Like (COL) amino acid sequences were used to screen for homologs in the E. pusilla transcriptome database. Specific primers to the homologous unigenes were then used to isolate BAC clones, which were sequenced to identify 12 E. pusilla CO-like (EpCOL) full-length genes. Based on sequence homology, domain structure, and phylogenetic analysis, these EpCOL genes were divided into four groups. Four EpCOLs fused with GFP were localized in the nucleus. Some EpCOL genes were regulated by light. These results demonstrate that nascent E. pusilla resources (transcriptome and BAC library) can be used to investigate the E. pusilla photoperiod-dependent flowering genes. In future, this strategy can be applied to other biological processes, marketable traits, and molecular breeding in this model orchid.
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Abbreviations
- CO:
-
CONSTANS
- CO, CO-like, TOC1:
-
CCT
- FT:
-
FLOWERING LOCUS T
- Hd1:
-
HEADING DATE 1
- COL:
-
CO-like
- NGS:
-
Next-generation sequencing
- ESTs:
-
Expressed sequence tags
- RNA-Seq:
-
RNA sequencing
- RACE:
-
Rapid amplification of cDNA ends
- GO:
-
Gene ontology
- COG:
-
Clusters of orthologous groups
- BBX:
-
B-box zinc finger protein family
- PPFD:
-
Photosynthetic photon flux density
- TAIR:
-
The Arabidopsis information resource
- OOGB:
-
Oncidium orchid genome base
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Ms. Anita K. Snyder and Ms. Miranda Loney for giving comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by Academia Sinica and Development Program of Industrialization for Agricultural Biotechnology, Taiwan (MCS and CSL) and National Science Council, Taiwan (grant No. NSC97-2311-B-320-002-MY3 to MLC).
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M.-L. Chou and M.-C. Shih contributed equally to this work.
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Chou, ML., Shih, MC., Chan, MT. et al. Global transcriptome analysis and identification of a CONSTANS-like gene family in the orchid Erycina pusilla . Planta 237, 1425–1441 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-013-1850-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-013-1850-z