Masting is a widespread phenomenon of intermittent and synchronous flowering and seeding in plant populations. Nutrients are known to modify flowering time. In a typical masting tree, Fagus crenate, it was found that nitrogen fertilization can result in higher flowering gene expression. While in general, annual and herb species delay flowering under high nitrogen condition. How about the effects of nitrogen on flowering in other masting species? How nutrients can affect the known pathways of flowering or flowering events? The detailed physiological and molecular mechanisms of the phenomenon have not been well investigated.
In this study, a promising tool- genome-wide field transcriptome analysis is in a combination with relative gene expression analysis, to explore the relationship between nutrient transport and flowering dynamics of two masting species -Lithocarpus edulis and Quercus glauca under different natural environment, to unravel the evolution of reproductive strategies in trees.
Results/Conclusions
Firstly, field transcriptomics of two species established to detect the potential biological processes associated with floral induction and transition, and which results revealed the genes related to the nitrate transport, sugar transport, and phosphorus transport were enriched and showed differential seasonal expression patterns. In these biological processes, we chose five candidate genes underlying gene function annotations, which show potential relationships with floral transition, and one is likely to related to leaf senescence. Then Quantitative Real-time PCR method is used to measure and analysis on candidate genes and floral induction gene expression pattern of two masting species at three study sites.The preliminary result showed one candidate gene, NITRATE TRANSPORTER 1 /PEPTIDE TRANSPORTER FAMILY 1.2(NPF1.2)s in masting species have the same function to transport nitrate from source tissues to sink tissues as AtNPF1.2. Other candidate genes expression relatively accurate analyses are going on at different study sites, and association analyses on their relationships to masting events.