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Abstract Detail



Development and Structure

Webster, Cynthia [1], Figueroa Corona, Laura [2], Vázquez-Lobo, Alejandra [3], Wegrzyn, Jill [4].

Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis of Juvenile and Adult Leaf Morphologies in Conifers.

In land plants, heteroblasty broadly refers to a drastic change in morphology during growth through ontogeny. Juniperus flaccida (Schlechtendal) and Pinus cembroides (Zuccarini) are conifers of independent lineages known to exhibit leaf heteroblasty between the juvenile and adult life stage of development. Juvenile leaves of P. cembroides develop spirally on the main stem and appear decurrent, flattened and needle-like; whereas, adult photosynthetic leaves are triangular or semi-circular needle-like, and grow in whorls on secondary or tertiary compact dwarf shoots. By comparison, J. flaccida juvenile leaves are decurrent and needle-like, and adult leaves are compact, short and scale-like. A transcriptomic analysis was performed to evaluate differences in anatomy and gene expression patterns between both species (P. cembroides and J. flaccida). RNA from twelve samples was sequenced on HiSeq 2500 (100bp PE) and analyzed with available software. Because there are no reference genomes for these species, they were assembled de novo from the RNA-Seq reads. Following assembly, 63,741 high quality transcripts were functionally annotated in P. cembroides and 69,448 in J. flaccida. Evaluation of the orthologous groups yielded 4,140 shared gene families among the four references. Interestingly, activities related to cell division and development were more abundant in juveniles than adults in P. cembroides, but vice versa in J. flaccida. Overall, there were 509 up-regulated and 81 down-regulated genes in the juvenile condition of P. cembroides and 18 up-regulated and 20 down-regulated in J. flaccida. In comparing the expression patterns between juvenile and adult P. cembroides samples, we detected proteins responsible for the synthesis of cellulose and xyloglucans that make up the cell wall, proteins involved in cuticle biosynthesis through processing of long and very long fatty acids to produce wax and cutin, and five type II MADS-box genes. In J. flaccida samples, we detected changes in proteins related to regulation of photosystem metabolism and secondary metabolites production.


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1 - University of Connecticut, 67 N Eagleville Rd, Storrs, CT, 06269, United States
2 - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Evolutionary Ecology , Ciudad de México, Mexico
3 - Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Systematics and Evolution, Cuernavaca, Mexico
4 - University of Connecticut, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 75 N. Eagleville Road, Unit 3043, Storrs, CT, 06269-3043, United States

Keywords:
Heteroblasty
RNA-Seq Analysis.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P1, Development and Structure Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM(EDT)
Number: P1DS002
Abstract ID:330
Candidate for Awards:Developmental and Structural Section best poster


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