Methylome and transcriptome analyses of three different degrees of albinism in apple seedlings
Tingting Sun,
Junke Zhang,
Qiang Zhang,
Xingliang Li,
Minji Li,
Yuzhang Yang,
Jia Zhou,
Qinping Wei,
Beibei Zhou
Affiliations
Tingting Sun
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Junke Zhang
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Qiang Zhang
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Xingliang Li
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Minji Li
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Yuzhang Yang
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Jia Zhou
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Qinping Wei
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Beibei Zhou
Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing Academy of Forestry and Pomology Sciences, Beijing Engineering Research Center for Deciduous Fruit Trees, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Abstract Background Leaf colour mutations are universally expressed at the seedling stage and are ideal materials for exploring the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway, carotenoid metabolism and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway in plants. Results In this research, we analysed the different degrees of albinism in apple (Malus domestica) seedlings, including white-leaf mutants (WM), piebald leaf mutants (PM), light-green leaf mutants (LM) and normal leaves (NL) using bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). There were 61,755, 79,824, and 74,899 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and 7566, 3660, and 3546 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in the WM/NL, PM/NL and LM/NL comparisons, respectively. Conclusion The analysis of the methylome and transcriptome showed that 9 DMR-associated DEGs were involved in the carotenoid metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. The expression of different transcription factors (TFs) may also influence the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway, carotenoid metabolism and the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway in apple leaf mutants. This study provides a new method for understanding the differences in the formation of apple seedlings with different degrees of albinism.
