Observation of prime position and driving zones in process of tuberous root expanding and expression analysis of phytohormone relative genes in Rehmannia glutinosa / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

In order to study the development characteristics of Rehmannia glutinosa tuberous root expansion and reveal the regulation mechanism of the genes related to hormones in this process, R. glutinosa "wen-85" was used as the experimental material in this study. R. glutinosa tuberous roots of different developmental stages were collected to observe phenotype and tissue morphology using resin semi-thin sections method. The genes related to hormone biosynthesis and response were chosen from the transcriptome of R. glutinosa, which was previously constructed by our laboratory, their expression levels at different development stages were measured by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that the root development could be divided into six stages seeding, elongation, pre-expanding, mid-expanding, late-expanding and maturity stage. The anatomic characteristics indicated that the fission of secondary cambium initiated the tuberous root expansion, and the continuous and rapid division of secondary cambium and accessory cambium kept the sustained and rapid expansion of tuberous root. In addition, a large number oleoplasts were observed in root on the semi-thin and ultra-thin section. The quantitative analysis suggested that the genes related to biosynthesis and response of the IAA, CK, ABA,ethylene, JA and EB were up-regulated expressed, meanwhile, GA synthesis and response genes were down-regulated expressed and the genes of GA negative regulation factors were up-regulated expressed. The maximum levels of most genes expression occurred in the elongation and pre-expansion stage, indicating these two stages were the key periods to the formation and development of tuberous roots. Oleoplasts might be the essential cytological basis for the formation and storage of the unique medicinal components in R. glutinosa. The results of the study are helpful for explanation of development and the molecular regulation mechanism of the tuberous root in R. glutinosa.