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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional and Applied Plant Genomics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1467232

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of AP2/ERFs in Osmanthus fragrans reveals the role of OfERF017 mediated organic acid metabolism pathway in flower senescence

Provisionally accepted
Jing-Jing Zou Jing-Jing Zou 1,2,3Jun Zhang Jun Zhang 4Xiaoqian Wang Xiaoqian Wang 1,2,5*Hui Xia Hui Xia 1,2*Yingting Zhang Yingting Zhang 1,2*Xiangling Zeng Xiangling Zeng 1,2,3*Xuan Cai Xuan Cai 1,2,3*Jie Yang Jie Yang 1,2,3*Jin Zeng Jin Zeng 1,2*Zeqing Li Zeqing Li 1,2,4*Guifu Zhang Guifu Zhang 1,2*Chongquo Chen Chongquo Chen 1,2,3*
  • 1 National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
  • 2 Osmanthus Innovation Center of National Engineering Research Center for Floriculture, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, Hubei Province, China
  • 3 Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Xianning Research Academy of Industrial Technology of Osmanthus fragrans, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
  • 4 IGENEBOOK Biotechnology Co.,Ltd., Wuhan 430070, China, Wuhan, China
  • 5 College of Pharmacy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, Hubei Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Osmanthus fragrans is an ethylene-sensitive flower, and the flower senescence was mediated by Ethylene-Responsive Transcription Factors (OfERFs). A total of 227 OfERFs were identified from O. fragrans, which were classified into five subfamilies: AP2(35), DREB (57), ERF (125), RAV(6) and Soloist (4). Gene composition and structural analysis indicate that members of different subfamilies have different gene structures and conserved domains. Their gene promoter contains various functional responsive elements, including auxin, jasmonic acid and other responsive elements. Among them, 124 OfAP2/ERF genes have expressed at any stage of flowering, and ten of them may play roles in flowering or senescence. By comparative transcriptome analysis, OfAP2/ERFs affected by ethephon (ETH) and 5-Azacytidine (Aza) treatment were divided into three categories, which have various target gene sets. Importantly, these target gene sets participate in similar or different biological processes and metabolic pathways, suggesting that ethylene and DNA hypomethylation have crosstalk and unique mechanism in regulating the flower senescence of O. fragrans. Co-expression analysis revealed several key OfAP2/ERFs played a central role in organic acid metabolism and biosynthesis of branched chain amino acids (BcAAs), among which OfERF017 was selected for further functional analysis. Over-expression of OfERF017 leads to significant enrichment of genes in organic acid metabolism pathways, which leads to a decrease in organic acid levels and promoting the flower senescence of O. fragrans. Together, these results give insights into the characteristics and functional analysis of OfAP2/ERF genes in O. fragrans.

    Keywords: Sweet osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans), ethylene-responsive transcription factor (ERF), organic acid decomposition metabolism, Flower senescence, Gene expression patterns

    Received: 19 Jul 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zou, Zhang, Wang, Xia, Zhang, Zeng, Cai, Yang, Zeng, Li, Zhang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Xiaoqian Wang, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Hui Xia, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Yingting Zhang, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Xiangling Zeng, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Xuan Cai, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Jie Yang, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Jin Zeng, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Zeqing Li, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Guifu Zhang, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China
    Chongquo Chen, National Forestry and Grassland Administration Engineering Research Center for Osmanthus fragrans, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China, Xianning, China

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