Project description:Recently we demonstrated that the seed microbiome of certain spinach (Spinacia oleracea) seed lots can confer disease suppression against Globisporangium ultimum damping-off (previously known as Pythium ultimum). We hypothesized that differences in the microbial community composition of spinach seed lots correlate with the levels of damping-off suppressiveness of each seed lot. Here, we show that a large proportion of variance in seed-associated bacterial (16S) and fungal (Internal Transcribed Spacer 1) amplicon sequences was explained by seed lot identity, while 9.8% of bacterial and 7.1% of fungal community variance correlated with disease suppression. More specifically, a higher relative abundance of basidiomycetous dimorphic yeasts such as Vishniacozyma, Filobasidium, and Papiliotrema and of the bacterial genus Massilia was a key feature of suppressive seed microbiomes. We suggest that the abundance of these genera is indicative of seed lot suppressive potential. Seed processing and treatment can become more targeted with indicator taxa being used to evaluate the presence of beneficial seed-associated microbial functions. This process, in turn, could contribute to the sustainable management of seedling diseases. Finally, this study highlights the ubiquity of yeasts in spinach seed microbiota and their potential beneficial roles for seed health.
Project description:The genome sequences of several legume species are now available allowing the comparison of the nitrogen (N) transporter inventories with non-legume species. A survey of the genes encoding inorganic N transporters and the sensing and assimilatory families in pea, revealed similar numbers of genes encoding the primary N assimilatory enzymes to those in other types of plants. Interestingly, we find that pea and Medicago truncatula have fewer members of the NRT2 nitrate transporter family. We suggest that this difference may result from a decreased dependency on soil nitrate acquisition, as legumes have the capacity to derive N from a symbiotic relationship with diazotrophs. Comparison with M. truncatula, indicates that only one of three NRT2s in pea is likely to be functional, possibly indicating less N uptake before nodule formation and N-fixation starts. Pea seeds are large, containing generous amounts of N-rich storage proteins providing a reserve that helps seedling establishment and this may also explain why fewer high affinity nitrate transporters are required. The capacity for nitrate accumulation in the vacuole is another component of assimilation, as it can provide a storage reservoir that supplies the plant when soil N is depleted. Comparing published pea tissue nitrate concentrations with other plants, we find that there is less accumulation of nitrate, even in non-nodulated plants, and that suggests a lower capacity for vacuolar storage. The long-distance transported form of organic N in the phloem is known to be specialized in legumes, with increased amounts of organic N molecules transported, like ureides, allantoin, asparagine and amides in pea. We suggest that, in general, the lower tissue and phloem nitrate levels compared with non-legumes may also result in less requirement for high affinity nitrate transporters. The pattern of N transporter and assimilatory enzyme distribution in pea is discussed and compared with non-legumes with the aim of identifying future breeding targets.
Project description:BackgroundProanthocyanidins (PAs) accumulate in the seeds, fruits and leaves of various plant species including the seed coats of pea (Pisum sativum), an important food crop. PAs have been implicated in human health, but molecular and biochemical characterization of pea PA biosynthesis has not been established to date, and detailed pea PA chemical composition has not been extensively studied.ResultsPAs were localized to the ground parenchyma and epidermal cells of pea seed coats. Chemical analyses of PAs from seeds of three pea cultivars demonstrated cultivar variation in PA composition. 'Courier' and 'Solido' PAs were primarily prodelphinidin-types, whereas the PAs from 'LAN3017' were mainly the procyanidin-type. The mean degree of polymerization of 'LAN3017' PAs was also higher than those from 'Courier' and 'Solido'. Next-generation sequencing of 'Courier' seed coat cDNA produced a seed coat-specific transcriptome. Three cDNAs encoding anthocyanidin reductase (PsANR), leucoanthocyanidin reductase (PsLAR), and dihydroflavonol reductase (PsDFR) were isolated. PsANR and PsLAR transcripts were most abundant earlier in seed coat development. This was followed by maximum PA accumulation in the seed coat. Recombinant PsANR enzyme efficiently synthesized all three cis-flavan-3-ols (gallocatechin, catechin, and afzalechin) with satisfactory kinetic properties. The synthesis rate of trans-flavan-3-ol by co-incubation of PsLAR and PsDFR was comparable to cis-flavan-3-ol synthesis rate by PsANR. Despite the competent PsLAR activity in vitro, expression of PsLAR driven by the Arabidopsis ANR promoter in wild-type and anr knock-out Arabidopsis backgrounds did not result in PA synthesis.ConclusionSignificant variation in seed coat PA composition was found within the pea cultivars, making pea an ideal system to explore PA biosynthesis. PsANR and PsLAR transcript profiles, PA localization, and PA accumulation patterns suggest that a pool of PA subunits are produced in specific seed coat cells early in development to be used as substrates for polymerization into PAs. Biochemically competent recombinant PsANR and PsLAR activities were consistent with the pea seed coat PA profile composed of both cis- and trans-flavan-3-ols. Since the expression of PsLAR in Arabidopsis did not alter the PA subunit profile (which is only comprised of cis-flavan-3-ols), it necessitates further investigation of in planta metabolic flux through PsLAR.
Project description:Several grain legumes are staple food crops that are important sources of minerals for humans; unfortunately, our knowledge is incomplete with respect to the mechanisms of translocation of these minerals to the vegetative tissues and loading into seeds. Understanding the mechanism and partitioning of minerals in pea could help in developing cultivars with high mineral density. A mineral partitioning study was conducted in pea to assess whole-plant growth and mineral content and the potential source-sink remobilization of different minerals, especially during seed development. Shoot and root mineral content increased for all the minerals, although tissue-specific partitioning differed between the minerals. Net remobilization was observed for P, S, Cu, and Fe from both the vegetative tissues and pod wall, but the amounts remobilized were much below the total accumulation in the seeds. Within the mature pod, more minerals were partitioned to the seed fraction (>75%) at maturity than to the pod wall for all the minerals except Ca, where only 21% was partitioned to the seed fraction. Although there was evidence for net remobilization of some minerals from different tissues into seeds, continued uptake and translocation of minerals to source tissues during seed fill is as important, if not more important, than remobilization of previously stored minerals.
Project description:Floral zygomorphy (flowers with bilateral symmetry) has multiple origins and typically manifests two kinds of asymmetries, dorsoventral (DV) and organ internal (IN) asymmetries in floral and organ planes, respectively, revealing the underlying key regulators in plant genomes that generate and superimpose various mechanisms to build up complexity and different floral forms during plant development. In this study, we investigate the loci affecting these asymmetries during the development of floral zygomorphy in pea (Pisum sativum L.). Two genes, LOBED STANDARD 1 (LST1) and KEELED WINGS (K), were cloned that encode TCP transcription factors and have divergent functions to constitute the DV asymmetry. A previously undescribed regulator, SYMMETRIC PETALS 1 (SYP1), has been isolated as controlling IN asymmetry. Genetic analysis demonstrates that DV and IN asymmetries could be controlled independently by the two kinds of regulators in pea, and their interactions help to specify the type of zygomorphy. Based on the genetic analysis in pea, we suggest that variation in both the functions and interactions of these regulators could give rise to the wide spectrum of floral symmetries among legume species and other flowering plants.
Project description:BackgroundCultivated crops have repeatedly faced new climatic conditions while spreading from their site of origin. In Sweden, at the northernmost fringe of Europe, extreme conditions with temperature-limited growth seasons and long days require specific adaptation. Pea (Pisum sativum L.) has been cultivated in Sweden for millennia, allowing for adaptation to the local environmental conditions to develop. To study such adaptation, 15 Swedish pea landraces were chosen alongside nine European landraces, seven cultivars and three wild accessions. Number of days to flowering (DTF) and other traits were measured and the diversity of the flowering time genes HIGH RESPONSE TO PHOTOPERIOD (HR), LATE FLOWERING (LF) and STERILE NODES (SN) was assessed. Furthermore, the expression profiles of LF and SN were obtained.ResultsDTF was positively correlated with the length of growing season at the site of origin (GSO) of the Swedish landraces. Alleles at the HR locus were significantly associated with DTF with an average difference of 15.43 days between the two detected haplotypes. LF expression was found to have a significant effect on DTF when analysed on its own, but not when HR haplotype was added to the model. HR haplotype and GSO together explained the most of the detected variation in DTF (49.6 %).ConclusionsWe show local adaptation of DTF, primarily in the northernmost accessions, and links between genetic diversity and diversity in DTF. The links between GSO and genetic diversity of the genes are less clear-cut and flowering time adaptation seems to have a complex genetic background.
Project description:Phylogenetic relationships of the Abyssinian pea (Pisum sativum ssp. abyssinicum) to other subspecies and species in the genus were investigated to test between different hypotheses regarding its origin and domestication. An extensive sample of the Pisum sativum ssp. sativum germplasm was investigated, including groups a-1, a-2, b, c, and d as identified by Kwon et al. (2012). A broad sample of P. fulvum but relatively few P. s. ssp. elatius accessions were analyzed. Partial sequences of 18 genes were compared and these results combined with comparisons of additional genes done by others and available in the literature. In total, 54 genes or gene fragment sequences were involved in the study. The observed affinities between alleles in P. ssp. sativum, P. s. ssp. abyssinicum, P. s. ssp. elatius, and P. fulvum clearly demonstrated a close relationship among the three P. sativum subspecies and rejected the hypothesis that the Abyssinian pea was formed by hybridization between one of the P. sativum subspecies and P. fulvum. If hybridization were involved in the generation of the Abyssinian pea, it must have been between P. s. ssp. sativum and P. s. ssp. elatius, although the Abyssinian pea possesses a considerable number of highly unique alleles, implying that the actual P. s. ssp. elatius germplasm involved in such a hybridization has yet to be tested or that the hybridization occurred much longer ago than the postulated 4000 years bp. Analysis of the P. s. ssp. abyssinicum alleles in genomic regions thought to contain genes critical for domestication indicated that the indehiscent pod trait was independently developed in the Abyssinian pea, whereas the loss of seed dormancy was either derived from P. s. ssp. sativum or at least partially developed before the P. s. ssp. abyssinicum lineage diverged from that leading to P. s. ssp. sativum.
Project description:Pea (Pisum. sativum L.) is a traditional and important edible legume that can be sorted into grain pea and vegetable pea according to their harvested maturely or not. Vegetable pea by eating the fresh seed is becoming more and more popular in recent years. These two type peas display huge variations of the taste and nutrition, but how seed development and nutrition accumulation of grain pea and vegetable pea and their differences at the molecular level remains poorly understood. To understand the genes and gene networks regulate seed development in grain pea and vegetable pea, high throughput RNA-Seq and bioinformatics analysis were used to compare the transcriptomes of vegetable pea and grain pea developing seed. RNA-Seq generated 18.7 G raw data, which was then de novo assembled into 77,273 unigenes with a mean length of 930 bp. Functional annotation of the unigenes was carried out using the nr, Swiss-Prot, COG, GO and KEGG databases. There were 459 and 801 genes showing differentially expressed between vegetable pea and grain pea at early and late seed maturation phases, respectively. Sugar and starch metabolism related genes were dramatically activated during pea seed development. The up-regulated of starch biosynthesis genes could explain the increment of starch content in grain pea then vegetable pea; while up-regulation of sugar metabolism related genes in vegetable pea then grain pea should participate in sugar accumulation and associated with the increase in sweetness of vegetable pea then grain pea. Furthermore, transcription factors were implicated in the seed development regulation in grain pea and vegetable pea. Thus, our results constitute a foundation in support of future efforts for understanding the underlying mechanism that control pea seed development and also serve as a valuable resource for improved pea breeding.
Project description:Pea (Pisum sativum) was chosen as the research material by Gregor Mendel to discover the laws of inheritance. Out of seven traits studied by Mendel, genes controlling three traits including pod shape, pod color, and flower position have not been identified to date. With the aim of identifying the genomic region controlling pod color, we determined the genome sequence of a pea line with yellow pods. Genome sequence reads obtained using a Nanopore sequencing technology were assembled into 117,981 contigs (3.3 Gb), with an N50 value of 51.2 kb. A total of 531,242 potential protein-coding genes were predicted, of which 519,349 (2.8 Gb) were located within repetitive sequences (2.8 Gb). The assembled sequences were ordered using a reference as a guide to build pseudomolecules. Subsequent genetic and association analyses led to the identification of a genomic region that controls pea pod color. DNA sequences at this genomic location and transcriptome profiles of green and yellow pod lines were analyzed, and genes encoding 3' exoribonucleases were selected as potential candidates controlling pod color. The results presented in this study are expected to accelerate pan-genome studies in pea and facilitate the identification of the gene controlling one of the traits studied by Mendel.
Project description:The aroma of pea protein (Pisum sativum L.) was decrypted for knowledge-based flavor optimization of new food products containing pea protein. Sensomics helped to determine several volatiles via ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and 3-nitrophenylhydrazine derivatization. Among the investigated volatiles, representatives of aldehydes, ketones, and acids were reported in literature as especially important in pea and pea-related matrices. After validation of the method and quantitation of the corresponding analytes, sensory reconstitution as well as omission studies of a selected pea protein were performed and revealed nine odor-active compounds as key food odorants (3-methylbutanal, hexanal, acetaldehyde, (E,E)-2,4-nonadienal, (E)-2-octenal, benzaldehyde, heptanal, 2-methylbutanal, and nonanoic acid). Interestingly, eight out of nine compounds belonged to the chemical class of aldehydes. Statistical heatmap and cluster analysis of all odor activity values of different pea proteins confirmed the obtained sensory results and generalize these nine key food odorants in other pea proteins. The knowledge of key components gained shows potential for simplifying industrial flavor optimization of pea protein-based food.