Flowering Related Comparative Transcriptomics between Jatropha curcas and Jatropha nigroviensrugosus

The main factor limiting the yield is the low radio of female to male flowers. As a new variant, J. nigroviensrugosus cv. Yang has a larger female to male flower ratio than Jatropha carcas L. Leaf- and inflorescence buds and female and male flowers of J. carcas and its cultivar J nigroviensrugosus were sequenced to carry out a comparative analysis among their transcriptome differences. Results demonstrated that the alignment rates for both of them with respect to the genome of J. carcas were above 96%. This indicates small sequence differences and closes genetic relationships among the two taxa. The morphological differences between the leaves of the two cultivars affect the plant's response to red/far-red light and blue light. From the gene expression trend, it was found that most of the genes that were up-regulated in both female and male flowers were associated with floral organ formation. There were significant differences in the gene expression in the inflorescence buds between the two cultivars, exhibiting a total of 1646 differential genes. Plant hormone signal transduction pathways were involved in the sexual differentiation and flower bud formation of J. curcas. While the genes DELLA, MYC2 and CYCD3 might be related to the stamen abortion and the female flower sex determination during the inflorescence bud stage of J. nigroviensrugosus. (C) 2018 Friends Science Publishers