Identification Of Key Genes Involved In E1 Mediated Photoperiodic Flowering

Soybean [Glycine max(L.) Merr.] is an important grain and oil crop, providing plant oil and protein for our daily lives. Maturity is an important agronomic trait affecting the yield of soybean. E1 gene has large impact on soybean maturity. Therefore, identification of key genes involved in E1 mediated photoperiodic flowering has important theoretical and practical significance. In this study, using high-throughput sequencing technology, the transcriptomes of transgenic E1 soybean and wild type plants were compared; differentially expressed genes were verified by real-time quantitative PCR technology. Further, the tissue-specific expression patterns, the temporal expression pattern and the expression pattern under long day(16h light/8h dark) and short day(12h light/12 h dark) conditions of differentially expressed genes were studied; The main findings as follows:We successfully sequenced the transcriptome of E1-overexpressed plant by using high-throughput sequencing. Through bioinformatic analysis, 283 genes were differentially expressed between E1-overexpressed plant and wild type plant. These differentially expressed genes are mainly involved in pathways of flowering regulation, hormone regulation, and growth/development. Overall, these genes distributed cross 20 chromosomes in the soybean genome.Of 283 genes, we selected 92 genes according to the annotation for vertification. We successfully verified 27 genes having differential expressions between E1-overexpressed plant and wild type plant, with 21 genes downregulatied and 6 genes were up-regulated. We further selected 8 genes for expression analysis. Based on tissue specific expression pattern, temporal expression pattern and expression under long day and short day condition, Glyma.15G076200(GmSPL3b) of SPL family, Glyma.05G018800(GmFUL2a) and Glyma.17G081200(GmFUL2b) of FUL family may function importantly in E1 flowering regulation pathway, and merit further functional analysis.Furthermore, Glyma.15G076200(GmSPL3b) was cloned using Kariyutaka cDNA as a template and transfered into expression vector pTF101.1. Thansforamtion and further functional analysis is being undertaken.