ABSTRACT: Isolation and Identification of a Xizang Wild Armillaria mellea Strain,ITS Biological Characteristics and Artificial Domestication and Cultivation
Project description:Gastrodia elata Blume (Orchidaceae) is an important Chinese medicine with several functional components. In the life cycle of G. elata, the orchid develops a symbiotic relationship with two compatible mycorrhizal fungi Mycena spp. and Armillaria mellea during seed germination to form vegetative propagation corm and vegetative growth to develop tubers, respectively. Gastrodin (p-hydroxymethylphenol-beta-D-glucoside) is the most important functional component in G. elata, and gastrodin significantly increases from vegetative propagation corms to tubers. To address the gene regulation mechanism in gastrodin biosynthesis in G. elata, a comparative analysis of de novo transcriptome sequencing among the vegetative propagation corms and tubers of G. elata and A. mellea was conducted using deep sequencing. Transcriptome comparison between the vegetative propagation corms and juvenile tubers of G. elata revealed 582 differentially expressed unigenes, of which 415 and 167 genes were, respectively up-regulated (fold-change â?¥ 2, p-value < 0.05) and down-regulated (fold-change â?¤ 0.5, p-value <0.05) in juvenile tubers. After Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses, forty-seven up-regulated unigenes with enzyme commission (EC) were assigned to 269 isogroups involved in 100 different pathways, and twenty-four down-regulated unigenes with enzyme commission (EC) were assigned to 586 isogroups, involved in 167 different pathways. The analysis of the isogroup genes from all pathways revealed that the two unigenes at locus 25,051 (one of monooxygenases) and locus 22,288 (one of glycosyltransferases) might participate in hydroxylation and glucosylation in the gastrodin biosynthetic pathway. The gene expression of the two unique unigenes encoding monooxygenase and glycosyltransferase significantly increases from vegetative propagation corms to tubers, and the molecular basis of gastrodin biosynthesis in the tubers of G. elata is proposed. Transcriptome comparative between vegetative propagation corms and tubers of G. elata, and between tubers of G. elata (symbiosis A. mellea) and A. mellea
Project description:Chinese cordyceps is of particular interest for its confined distribution, mysterious lifecycle, ecological importance and developmental biology. The large scale artificial cultivation of this fungus has been succeeded in China until recently but with low efficiency and high cost being ascribed to too much unsolved biological issues, such as gene expression during development and the sexuality reproduction. The success of artificial cultivation provides the convenient for sampling during the different development stages.
Project description:We characterized the SF proteome of the polyandrous Red junglefowl, Gallus gallus, the wild species that gave rise to the domestic chicken. We identify 1,141 SFPs, including proteins involved in immunity and antimicrobial defences, sperm maturation, and fertilisation, revealing a functionally complex SF proteome. This includes a predominant contribution of blood plasma proteins that is conserved with human SF. By comparing the proteome of young and old males with fast or slow sperm velocity in a balanced design, we identify proteins associated with ageing and sperm velocity, and show that old males that retain high sperm velocity have distinct proteome characteristics. SFP comparisons with domestic chickens revealed both qualitative and quantitative differences likely associated with domestication and artificial selection. Collectively, these results shed light onto the functional complexity of avian SF, and provide a platform for molecular studies of fertility, reproductive ageing, and domestication.