ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Bioinformatics
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1570213
Full-length transcriptome provides insights into the molecular regulation of seed spike number in Agropyron mongolicum
Provisionally accepted
- 1Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
- 2Institute of Ecological Protection and Restoration, Chinese Academy of Forestry/Grassland Research Center, National Forestry and Grassland Administratio, Beijing, China
- 3Inner Mongolia Pratacultural Technology Innovation Center Co., Ltd, Hohhot, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Agropyron mongolicum is a xerophytic perennial grass with good palatability and nutritional value, predominantly distributed in sandy, arid regions and desert steppes of northwest China. However, its low biomass and limited seed yield pose significant challenges for large-scale cultivation and forage production. To date, there have been limited genomic or transcriptomic studies on A. mongolicum, particularly regarding the molecular genetic mechanisms underlying yield-related traits. In this study, we employed an integrated transcriptomic approach combining long-read sequencing (PacBio Iso-Seq) and short-read sequencing (Illumina RNA-seq) to generate a comprehensive full-length transcriptome from four tissues-leaves, stems, young spikes, and mature spikes. Transcriptomic comparisons between multi-spike and few-spike germplasms were performed to identify candidate genes involved in the regulation of spike number. A total of 762,116 full-length transcripts were generated, among which 214,500 were successfully annotated. We identified 185,424 unique genes, including 91,514 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Functional enrichment analysis revealed 43 DEGs associated with the protein processing pathway in the endoplasmic reticulum. Notably, 8DEGs were specifically expressed in young spikes and mature spikes of the contrasting spike-number germplasms, suggesting their potential role in spike number regulation. This study provides a highquality transcriptomic resource and identifies candidate genes that may facilitate molecular breeding for enhanced seed yield in A. mongolicum.Agropyron mongolicum is a perennial forage grass native to arid and semi-arid desert regions, valued for its ecological resilience, nutritional quality, and economic importance [1] . Adapted to drought and cold climates, the species is characterized by its early spring growth, robust root system, and palatable soft stems and leaves [2,3] . These traits make A. mongolicum a crucial resource for
Keywords: Agropyron mongolicum, Full-length transcriptome, spikes, gene, Quantitative realtime PCR
Received: 04 Feb 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Wei, Liu, Huang, Liu and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yan Zhao, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.