Potential Roles of the GRF Transcription Factors in Sorghum Internodes during Post-Reproductive Stages
Author:
Tu Min1ORCID, Li Zhuang1, Zhu Yuanlin1, Wang Peng2, Jia Hongbin1, Wang Guoli3ORCID, Zhou Qin1, Hua Yuqing1, Yang Lin1, Xiao Jiangrong1, Song Guangsen1, Li Yin3ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Hubei Technical Engineering Research Center for Chemical Utilization and Engineering Development of Agricultural and Byproduct Resources, School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China 2. School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, China 3. The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Chinese Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
Abstract
Growth-regulating factor (GRF) is a plant-specific family of transcription factors crucial for meristem development and plant growth. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is a cereal species widely used for food, feed and fuel. While sorghum stems are important biomass components, the regulation of stem development and the carbohydrate composition of the stem tissues remain largely unknown. Here, we identified 11 SbGRF-encoding genes and found the SbGRF expansion driven by whole-genome duplication events. By comparative analyses of GRFs between rice and sorghum, we demonstrated the divergence of whole-genome duplication (WGD)-derived OsGRFs and SbGRFs. A comparison of SbGRFs’ expression profiles supports that the WGD-duplicated OsGRFs and SbGRFs experienced distinct evolutionary trajectories, possibly leading to diverged functions. RNA-seq analysis of the internode tissues identified several SbGRFs involved in internode elongation, maturation and cell wall metabolism. We constructed co-expression networks with the RNA-seq data of sorghum internodes. Network analysis discovered that SbGRF1, 5 and 7 could be involved in the down-regulation of the biosynthesis of cell wall components, while SbGRF4, 6, 8 and 9 could be associated with the regulation of cell wall loosening, reassembly and/or starch biosynthesis. In summary, our genome-wide analysis of SbGRFs reveals the distinct evolutionary trajectories of WGD-derived SbGRF pairs. Importantly, expression analyses highlight previously unknown functions of several SbGRFs in internode elongation, maturation and the potential involvement in the metabolism of the cell wall and starch during post-anthesis stages.
Funder
Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province of China Start-Up Research Funding of Wuhan Polytechnic University Research Project of Wuhan Polytechnic University Opening Fund of Hubei Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry and Materia Medica “Chong, Bu, Qiang” Higher Education Promotion Project of Guangdong Province National Natural Science Foundation of China Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities, HUST
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