Project description:The western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is an important pest of corn (Zea mays) in the US. Annual crop rotation between corn and soybean (Glycine max) disrupts the corn-dependent WCR lifecycle and was widely adopted to manage WCR. However, this strategy selected for a rotation-resistant (RR) variant with reduced ovipositional fidelity to cornfields. Previous studies indicated that RR-WCR adults exhibit greater tolerance of soybean tissue diet, different gut physiology, and host-microbe interactions compared to wild-types (WT). To identify genetic mechanisms underlying these phenotypic changes, a de novo assembly of the WCR adult gut transcriptome was constructed and used for RNA-sequencing analyses on RNA libraries from different WCR phenotypes (RR and WT) fed with corn or soybean diets. Differential gene expression analyses and network-based methods were used to identify gene modules transcriptionally correlated with the RR phenotype. Gene ontology enrichment analyses on these modules were then conducted to understand their potential functions and biological importance. Differential gene expression analyses on RNA libraries from adult guts of different WCR phenotypes (rotation-resistant and wild-type) fed with corn or soybean diets
Project description:The western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is an important pest of corn (Zea mays) in the US. Annual crop rotation between corn and soybean (Glycine max) disrupts the corn-dependent WCR lifecycle and was widely adopted to manage WCR. However, this strategy selected for a rotation-resistant (RR) variant with reduced ovipositional fidelity to cornfields. Previous studies indicated that RR-WCR adults exhibit greater tolerance of soybean tissue diet, different gut physiology, and host-microbe interactions compared to wild-types (WT). To identify genetic mechanisms underlying these phenotypic changes, a de novo assembly of the WCR adult gut transcriptome was constructed and used for RNA-sequencing analyses on RNA libraries from different WCR phenotypes (RR and WT) fed with corn or soybean diets. Differential gene expression analyses and network-based methods were used to identify gene modules transcriptionally correlated with the RR phenotype. Gene ontology enrichment analyses on these modules were then conducted to understand their potential functions and biological importance.
Project description:Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant and anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Concentrations of tropospheric O3 have more than doubled since the Industrial Revolution, and are high enough to damage plant productivity. Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) is the worldâs most important legume crop and is sensitive to O3. Current ground-level O3 are estimated to reduce global soybean yields by 6% to 16%. In order to understand transcriptional mechanisms of yield loss in soybean, we examined the transcriptome of soybean flower and pod tissues exposed to elevated O3 using RNA-Sequencing.
Project description:The transition to flowering is characterized by a shift of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) from leaf production to the initiation of a floral meristem. In this study, we addressed the nature of SAM gene networks involved in the early floral initiation process in the crop legume soybean. Unique aspects (such as pod development and nitrogen fixation) of legume development make them appealing for plant development studies. Soybean, a major oilseed crop, possesses varied maturity groups; hence, understanding and unravelling initial transition control has implications in manipulating crop yield. To this end, we performed global gene expression analysis using Affymetrix® soybean GeneChip® with RNA isolated from micro-dissected soybean SAMs at various time points after plants were shifted from long-day to short-day growth conditions. Analysis of the resulting microarray data revealed a total of 331 transcripts that have differential expression profiles. Intriguingly, about 20% of the transcripts affected by the switch in the development program have orthologs reported to be responsive to abscisic acid (ABA), suggesting an increase in ABA levels in the SAM during this developmental change. A subsequent immunoassay verified this, thereby implicating its possible function as an endogenous signal during the floral evocation process. The striking occurrence of abiotic stress-related transcripts, including trehalose metabolism genes, in SAMs during the early transition to floral meristems points to an overlap of abiotic stress and floral signalling pathways in soybean. In addition, other hormones - auxin, jasmonic acid and brassinosteroids - and a number of candidate protein kinases may also act in the signalling process prior to or concurrently with the induction of the putative floral homeiotic transcripts. This indicates that molecular events mediated by multiple hormonal pathways are part of the mechanism employed by soybean to regulate the floral transition process. Keywords: transcript profiling floral transition soybean shoot apical meristem
Project description:Pod dehiscence is an important agronomic trait. Pod dehiscence would cause huge yield losses before soybean maturity. Although some of soybean pod dehiscence associated genes have been identified, the underlying mechanism of pod dehiscence is still not comprehensively explained. In this study, we have identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between shattering-resistant and shattering-susceptible soybean accessions based on transcriptome analyses of 10 soybean accessions. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that may be involved in soybean pod dehiscence were also identified, and we constructed co-expression networks between mRNAs and lncRNAs. RNA sequencing results were further verified by real-time PCR. Furthermore, DEGs were screened through analyzing positions of soybean pod dehiscence quantitative trait locus (QTLs) and phenotypes of soybean pod dehiscence for achieving pod-dehiscence candidate genes.