biostudies-arrayexpressSuvrat KotagalArthrostemma ciliatumhttps://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/E-MTAB-16916The experiment was performed to find differentially expressed transcripts/genes between the two stamen types responsible for causing the observed morphological differences. Four different developmental stages suitable for comparisons were identified based on morphological characteristics and flower bud sizes. The two stamen whorls at each of these developmental stages were dissected from multiple flower buds and RNA was extracted from each stamen whorl separately. Three such biological replicates per stamen whorl at the four developmental stages (i.e 3x2x4 =24 samples) and three additional leaf samples (biological replicates) were sequenced (mRNA library prep, Illumina seq.-paired end, 9G Raw data).biostudies-arrayexpressLibrary Construction - Messenger RNA was purified from total RNA using poly-T oligo-attached magnetic beads. After fragmentation, the first strand cDNA was synthesized using random hexamer primers followed by the second strand cDNA synthesis. The library was ready after end repair, A-tailing, adapter ligation, size selection, amplification, and purification.Sample Collection - Multiple flower buds of a defined size (corresponding to the developmental stage) were collected from plants grown in the greenhouse.Growth Protocol - Plants were grown in the public greenhouses at the Botanical Garden Munich NymphenburgSequencing - Sequencing was performed on an Illumina platform (PE150)Nucleic Acid Extraction - RNA was extracted from each stamen whorl following the manufacturers protocol using the innuPREP Plant RNA Kit (Innuscreen)Nucleic Acid Extraction - RNA was extracted from each stamen whorl following the manufacturers protocol using the RNeasy Plus Micro Kit (Qiagen)Nucleic Acid Extraction - RNA was extracted from each stamen whorl following the manufacturers protocol using the RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen)OrganizationMINSEQE ScoreAssays and DataProcessed DataMAGE-TAB FilesData Transformation - The raw read files were corrected, trimmed, cleaned of rRNA and then used for de-novo transcriptome assembly using trinity. The assembled transcriptome was thinned by similarity based clustering and ORF prediction. The processed reads were quantified using salmon by mapping to the thinned assembly. Count data of only the flower samples were input into DESeq2 to perform differential expression analyses. The count matrix thus contains estimated counts before normalization by DESeq2 only for the flower samples.UnknownTranscriptomicsGenomicsProteomicsIllumina NovaSeq 6000<h4>Background</h4>Melastomes are well known for their striking diversity in stamen morphologies mostly adapted to buzz pollination by bees. The variously modified connective appendages and heteranthery in the family have fascinated botanists for more than two centuries and a variety of functions associated with pollination have been discovered for these staminal traits over the years. The repeated evolutionary shifts in staminal traits have been linked to pollinator shifts, likely contributing to diversification in the family. The evolutionary lability of staminal traits, especially the connective morphology, led us to hypothesize that they might be controlled by relatively simple genetic mechanisms and we here take the first steps to test this hypothesis by using a comparative transcriptomics approach with Arthrostemma ciliatum as our model. We also tested the functional significance of heteranthery and whether the classical division of labour hypothesis holds true for this species by comparing the number, size and viability of pollen in the two stamen types.<h4>Results</h4>Staminal development of this species was studied and suitable stages for transcriptome comparisons were identified. Differential expression analyses between the morphologically distinct stamen whorls at four developmental stages showed the differential expression of several transcripts involved in stamen development/elongation. Pollen comparisons between the two whorls showed that the antepetalous/inner whorl stamens have a significantly higher number of pollen and higher germination rates while the antesepalous/outer whorl stamens have significantly larger pollen.<h4>Conclusions</h4>We identified Jasmonate and Gibberellin signalling pathway genes (JAZ, GID1, DELLA and ARF homologs), EPF/EPFL family genes, autophagy related genes (VPE homologs) and S Locus ELF homologs as putative candidates, likely involved in causing staminal dimorphism in A. ciliatum. Our results indicate that, for the heterantherous morph of this species, the shorter stamens (antepetalous/inner whorl) have both pollinating and feeding functions contradicting the division of labour theory. We also report the possible existence of heterostyly in A. ciliatum as an outcrossing mechanism.RNA-seq of coding RNAArthrostemma ciliatumInsights into the functional and genetic basis of heteranthery in Arthrostemma ciliatum Pav. ex D.Don (Melastomataceae)Suvrat Kotagal, Anna Schlick, Christian Siadjeu, Emy Yue Hu, Gudrun KadereitSuvrat KotagalfalseTranscriptome comparisons of dimorphic Arthrostemma ciliatum stamen whorls at different developmental stages to find candidate genes causing heterantheryThe experiment was performed to find differentially expressed transcripts/genes between the two stamen types responsible for causing the observed morphological differences. Four different developmental stages suitable for comparisons were identified based on morphological characteristics and flower bud sizes. The two stamen whorls at each of these developmental stages were dissected from multiple flower buds and RNA was extracted from each stamen whorl separately. Three such biological replicates per stamen whorl at the four developmental stages (i.e 3x2x4 =24 samples) and three additional leaf samples (biological replicates) were sequenced (mRNA library prep, Illumina seq.-paired end, 9G Raw data).2026-06-17T00:00:00Z2026-06-17T08:36:58.421Z2026-04-15T13:09:35.854ZE-MTAB-16916ERP192208EFO_0002944EFO_0004170EFO_0003789EFO_0005518EFO_0003816EFO_0003738EFO_000418410.1186/s12870-026-09093-6