Life Sciences Commons^™

Genome-Wide Identification And Characterization Of Auxin Response Factor (Arf) Gene Family Involved In Wood Formation And Response To Exogenous Hormone Treatment In Populus Trichocarpa, Yingying Liu, Ruiqi Wang, Jiajie Yu, Shan Huang, Yang Zhang, Hairong Wei, Zhigang Wei

Michigan Tech Publications

Auxin is a key regulator that virtually controls almost every aspect of plant growth and development throughout its life cycle. As the major components of auxin signaling, auxin response factors (ARFs) play crucial roles in various processes of plant growth and development. In this study, a total of 35 PtrARF genes were identified, and their phylogenetic relationships, chromosomal locations, synteny relationships, exon/intron structures, cis-elements, conserved motifs, and protein characteristics were systemically investigated. We also analyzed the expression patterns of these PtrARF genes and revealed that 16 of them, including PtrARF1, 3, 7, 11, 13–17, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29, 31, …

Ptrwox13a Promotes Wood Formation And Bioactive Gibberellins Biosynthesis In Populus Trichocarpa, Yang Zhang, Yingying Liu, Xueying Wang, Ruiqi Wang, Xuebing Chen, Shuang Wang, Hairong Wei, Zhigang Wei

Michigan Tech Publications

WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) genes are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) involved in multiple processes of plant development. However, there have hitherto no studies on the WOX TFs involved in secondary cell wall (SCW) formation been reported. In this study, we identified a Populus trichocarpa WOX gene, PtrWOX13A, which was predominantly expressed in SCW, and then characterized its functions through generating PtrWOX13A overexpression poplar transgenic lines; these lines exhibited not only significantly enhanced growth potential, but also remarkably increased SCW thicknesses, fiber lengths, and lignin and hemicellulose contents. However, no obvious change in cellulose content was observed. We revealed that PtrWOX13A directly …

Transcriptome-Wide Identification And Characterization Of Micrornas In Diverse Phases Of Wood Formation In Populus Trichocarpa, Ruiqi Wang, Mengxuan Reng, Shuanghui Tian, Cong Liu, He Cheng, Yingying Liu, Hairong Wei, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications

We applied miRNA expression profiling method to Populus trichocarpa stems of the three developmental stages, primary stem (PS), transitional stem (TS), and secondary stem (SS), to investigate miRNA species and their regulation on lignocellulosic synthesis and related processes. We obtained 892, 872, and 882 known miRNAs and 1727, 1723, and 1597 novel miRNAs, from PS, TS, and SS, respectively. Comparisons of these miRNA species among different developmental stages led to the identification of 114, 306, and 152 differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs), which had 921, 2639, and 2042 candidate target genes (CTGs) in the three respective stages of the same order. …

Quantitative Trait Locus Mapping Of Populus Bark Features And Stem Diameter, Roba Bdeir, Wellington Muchero, Yordan Yordanov, Gerald Tuskan, Victor B. Busov, Oliver Gailing

Michigan Tech Publications

Background

Bark plays important roles in photosynthate transport and storage, along with physical and chemical protection. Bark texture varies extensively among species, from smooth to fissured to deeply furrowed, but its genetic control is unknown. This study sought to determine the main genomic regions associated with natural variation in bark features and stem diameter. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) were mapped using an interspecific pseudo-backcross pedigree (Populus trichocarpa x P. deltoides and P. deltoides) for bark texture, bark thickness and diameter collected across three years, two sites and three biological replicates per site.

Results

QTL specific to bark texture …