Deciphering the transcriptomic insight during organogenesis in Castor (Ricinus communis L.), Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) and Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).

Cultivation of the castor crop is hindered by various factors and one of the approaches for genetic improvement of the crop is through exploitation of biotechnological tools. Response of castor tissues to in vitro culture is poor which necessitated this study on understanding the molecular basis of organogenesis in cultured tissues of castor, through de novo transcriptome analysis and by comparing with jatropha and sunflower having good regeneration ability. Transcriptome profiling analysis was carried out with hypocotyl explants from castor, jatropha and cotyledons from sunflower cultured on MS media supplemented with different concentrations of hormones. Differentially expressed genes during dedifferentiation and organogenic differentiation stages of callus included components of auxin and cytokinin signaling, secondary metabolite synthesis, genes encoding transcription factors, receptor kinases and protein kinases. In castor, many genes involved in auxin biosynthesis and homeostasis like WAT1, vacuolar transporter genes, transcription factors like short root like protein were down-regulated while genes like DELLA were up-regulated accounting for regeneration recalcitrance. Validation of 62 DEGs through qRT-PCR showed a consensus of 77.4% of the genes expressed. Overall study provides set of genes involved in the process of organogenesis in three oilseed crops which forms a basis for understanding and improving the efficiency of plant regeneration and genetic transformation in castor.

Start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphism in toxic and non-toxic accessions of Jatropha curcas L. and development of a codominant SCAR marker.

Thirty six start codon targeted (SCoT) primers were used for characterization of 48 accessions of Jatropha curcas from different countries and include material with genetic variation for levels of phorbol esters, yield, seed oil content, test weight and plant type. SCoT analysis revealed high polymorphism and 74% of the primers generated polymorphic profiles. The SCoT6 primer discriminated edible and toxic accessions in a single reaction while the SCoT26 and 27 primers produced amplicons specific to toxic and non-toxic accessions, respectively. The polymorphic SCoT markers obtained with these three primers were converted to sequence characterized amplicon regions (SCARs) which resulted in codominant SCARs with SCoT6 primer and dominant SCARs with SCoT 26 and 27 primers. The codominant nature of SCoT6 primer and the resultant SCAR6 primer were validated on intraspecific hybrids derived from a cross between non-toxic and toxic accessions. The accession JP38 from Madagascar was found to be distinct and showed accession specific bands with 9 different SCoT primers. Sequence analysis of polymorphic amplicons obtained with SCoT6 primer showed a 65 bp deletion in accessions with low/zero phorbol esters. Diversity analysis separated the toxic and non-toxic accessions into two groups and the accessions JP29 and JP48 from Mexico formed a third cluster.