Mineral element contents and gene expression in Sophora tonkinensis during florescence

Abstract

As a medicinal plant, Sophora tonkinensis is mainly distributed in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and northern Vietnam. In recent years, due to the strong demand for S. tonkinensis, wild resources have become decreased, which has placed great pressure on their protection. Therefore, the introduction of S. tonkinensis was carried out in Guangxi. Although the flowering period of S. tonkinensis is long, its seed setting rate is low. To promote flower production, it is necessary to do basic research on flowering in S. tonkinensis. In this study, the contents of various mineral elements in the roots, stems and leaves of S. tonkinensis were measured during the period of flowering, and cluster analysis was carried out on the content changes. At the same time, the correlations among the elements were analyzed. It was found that As and Hg inhibited the absorption of some important elements related to flower development. It is necessary to pay attention to the effects of these toxic elements on flowering during cultivation. RNA-seq of flower buds and flower organs was carried out, and the weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) method was used to mine the key genes. These genes may play an important role in flowering control and flower development in S. tonkinensis. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2021.1988707 .

Keywords

• sophora tonkinensis
• mineral element
• florescence
• wgcna
• icp-ms
• som clustering