Shedding some light over the floral metabolism by arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) spathe de novo transcriptome assembly

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 10;9(3):e90487. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090487. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Zantedeschia aethiopica is an evergreen perennial plant cultivated worldwide and commonly used for ornamental and medicinal purposes including the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the current understanding of molecular and physiological mechanisms in this plant is limited, in comparison to other non-model plants. In order to improve understanding of the biology of this botanical species, RNA-Seq technology was used for transcriptome assembly and characterization. Following Z. aethiopica spathe tissue RNA extraction, high-throughput RNA sequencing was performed with the aim of obtaining both abundant and rare transcript data. Functional profiling based on KEGG Orthology (KO) analysis highlighted contigs that were involved predominantly in genetic information (37%) and metabolism (34%) processes. Predicted proteins involved in the plant circadian system, hormone signal transduction, secondary metabolism and basal immunity are described here. In silico screening of the transcriptome data set for antimicrobial peptide (AMP) -encoding sequences was also carried out and three lipid transfer proteins (LTP) were identified as potential AMPs involved in plant defense. Spathe predicted protein maps were drawn, and suggested that major plant efforts are expended in guaranteeing the maintenance of cell homeostasis, characterized by high investment in carbohydrate, amino acid and energy metabolism as well as in genetic information.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology
  • Carrier Proteins / chemistry
  • Circadian Rhythm / genetics
  • Environment
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Flowers / drug effects
  • Flowers / genetics*
  • Flowers / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / drug effects
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions / drug effects
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions / genetics
  • Ligands
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plant Growth Regulators / metabolism
  • Plant Immunity / drug effects
  • Plant Immunity / genetics
  • Secondary Metabolism / drug effects
  • Secondary Metabolism / genetics
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Tissue Extracts
  • Transcription, Genetic / drug effects
  • Transcriptome / drug effects
  • Transcriptome / genetics*
  • Zantedeschia / drug effects
  • Zantedeschia / genetics*
  • Zantedeschia / immunology

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Ligands
  • Plant Growth Regulators
  • Tissue Extracts
  • lipid transfer protein

Grants and funding

This research was granted by CNPq, CAPES, FAPDF and UCB. The authors are thankful to the support provided by the Center for Scientific Computing (NCC/GridUNESP) of the São Paulo State University (UNESP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.