Project description:Three 2cm segments were excised from different parts (TOP, MID, BOT) along the vertical axis of a 4 week old (25cm) stem of flax (L. usitatissimum) were compared using a cDNA amplicon array. Each segment represented a different developmental stage, especially in relation to bast fibre differentiation (i.e. TOP= elongation, MID=transition, BOT= thickening). Only the cDNAs that showed the highest differential expression were sequenced.
Project description:We used RNAseq to compare transcript expression patterns in two segments of the vegetative stem of 14d flax plants, from which all visible leaves had been removed. The segments were: (i) the apical region (AR) of the shoot apex, which contained the apical-most 0.5 mm of the stem, including the SAM and its immediate derivatives; and (ii) the basal region (BR), which contained the entire stem except for the apical-most 1 cm, and therefore represented all stem and vascular tissues at later stages of differentiation as compared to the AR. These data will help identify genes that contribute to specification of phloem fiber identity.