Project description:The total RNA were extracted from pooled tissues of leaves and flowers from several plants of sacred lotus using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then small RNAs ranging in 18–30 nucleotides were size fractionated electrophoretically, isolated from the gel, ligated with the 5′ and 3′ RNA adapters. The ligated product was reverse transcribed and subsequently amplified using 10–12 PCR cycles. The purified PCR product was sequenced using Illumina Genome Analyzer II. The qualified reads were used to predict phased small interfering RNAs from Chinese sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.).
Project description:RNA-Seq analysis of the transcriptome and genes expression profile during pericarp browning of long-term storage lotus root (Nelumbo nucifera)
Project description:Flower-lotus with many attractive floral characteristics has been studied and discussed the most. These characteristics are used as the standards of the classification in most cases, and always attracted the attention of lotus breeders on improvement program because of associating with ornamental and economic values of lotus. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of these attractive floral features still remain largely unknown. Transcriptome sequencing technique has been established as an efficient approach for gene discovery and expression pattern identification. For some plants, a lot of important genes involved in plant critical metabolisms have been successfully identified by this technique. In the study, mass sequence data obtained from the deep sequencing of a mixed flower-bud cDNA pool from three individuals of N. nucifera provide a platform to comprehensively understand the processes of flower formation and development at the molecular level, and will greatly facilitate the genetic improvement of ornamental characteristics and the directive molecular breeding for lotus in the future.