GSE112080 RNAseq for peach weeping and standard lateral shoot (branch) tips

Contributors : Courtney Hollender ; Chris DardickSeries Type : Expression profiling by high throughput sequencingOrganism : Prunus persicaPlant shoots typically grow upward in opposition to the pull of gravity. However, exceptions exist throughout the plant kingdom. Most conspicuous are trees with weeping or pendulous branches. While such trees have long been cultivated and appreciated for their ornamental value, the molecular basis behind the weeping habit is not known. Here, we characterized a weeping tree phenotype in Prunus persica (peach) and identified the underlying genetic mutation using a genomic sequencing approach. Weeping peach tree shoots exhibited a downward elliptical growth pattern and did not exhibit an upward bending in response to 90 ° reorientation. The causative allele was found to be an uncharacterized gene, Ppa013325, having a 1.8-Kb deletion spanning the 5′ end. This gene, dubbed WEEP, was predominantly expressed in phloem tissues and encodes a highly conserved 129-amino acid protein containing a sterile alpha motif (SAM) domain. Silencing WEEP in the related tree species Prunus domestica (plum) resulted in more outward, downward, and wandering shoot orientations compared to standard trees, supporting a role for WEEP in directing lateral shoot growth in trees. This previously unknown regulator of branch o rientation, which may also be a regulator of gravity per- ception or response, provides insights into our understanding of ...

Source: GEO: Gene Expression Omnibus - March 21, 2018 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Tags: Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing Prunus persica Source Type: research