NGS studies towards the isolation of genes responsible for the loss of the shoot apical meristem during plant evolution

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K18593
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: Tokyo Gakugei University
• Principal Investigator: NISHII Kanae 東京学芸大学, 教育学部, 研究員 (50743770)
• Research Collaborator: IWAMOTO Akitoshi 東京学芸大学, 教育学部, 准教授 ; NAGANO Atsushi 龍谷大学, 農学部, 講師 ; MÖLLER Michael Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Senior scientific officer
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 茎頂分裂組織 / 葉発生 / 次世代シーケンス / ゲノムシーケンス / トランスクリプトーム / イワタバコ科 / ストレプトカルプス属 / RADシーケンス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The majority of rosulate Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae) species initiate leaves from the petiolode and form a false rosette (excentric rosulates). On the other hand, some rosulates show centralized phyllotaxy (centric rosulates). To understand the leaf formation and related meristem activities, we investigate the underlying morphogenesis and genetic mechanisms.
The results of morphological analyses showed that a shoot apical meristem (SAM) is present in centric rosulates while excentric rosulates do not retain a SAM. Further, genetic resources were built for the non-model plant Streptocarpus using state-of the art NGS techniques: genome sequence data were obtained with DNAseq, transcriptome sequences were obtained with RNAseq, and genotype information to build the genetic map was obtained with RADseq. The obtained genetic resources provide the bases to start genetic analyses to isolate the genes regulating the shoot apical meristem formation and its evolution in the genus Streptocarpus.

Free Research Field

進化発生学