Author
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GUTIERREZ-GONZALEZ, JUAN - University Of Minnesota |
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Garvin, David |
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Submitted to: Plant Genome Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2016 Publication Date: 1/8/2016 Citation: Gutierrez-Gonzalez, J., Garvin, D.F. 2016. Assembly and expression analysis of oat vitamin E biosynthesis gene homeologs during seed development. Plant Genome Conference. January 8-13, 2016, San Diego, California. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Among the cereal grains, hexaploid oats (Avena sativa L.) are particularly rich in vitamin E, an essential liposoluble vitamin that maintains membrane stability and possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. To date, no gene sequences involved in vitamin E biosynthesis have been reported for oats. We used deep sequencing and an orthology-guided assembly to reconstruct coding sequences of genes for each step in the vitamin E synthesis pathway, including resolution of the sequences of homeologs. Three homeologs, presumed to represent each of the three oat subgenomes, were identified for the main steps of the pathway. Pairwise comparisons among homeologs revealed that, for each gene, two of the three putative subgenome-specific homeologs are very similar. We estimated divergence times between the three oat subgenomes and used this information to shed light on different evolutionary scenarios that may have led to the emergence of hexaploid oat. Homeolog-specific gene expression was quantified during oat seed development and compared with vitamin E accumulation. Homeolog expression largely appears to be similar for most of genes; however, for some genes homoeolog-specific transcriptional bias was observed. Our findings expand our understanding of oat genome evolution, and will assist efforts to modify vitamin E content and composition in oats. |
