ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Whole-genome identification of LdELF4s and analysis of their expression response to diurnal temperature variations in Lilium davidii var. willmottiae (E. H. Wilson) Raffill
Provisionally accepted
- 1Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
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Lanzhou lily (Lilium davidii var. willmottiae), a medicinal and edible plant endemic to China, synthesizes bioactive compounds on the basis of the regulation of diurnal temperature variations (DIFs). ELF4 family genes, key regulators that coordinate endogenous rhythms with external environmental changes in plants, have been extensively studied in various species; however, their functions in Lanzhou lily remain unclear. In this study, the development of the nuclear‒cytoplasmic system in 11 species, with Physcomitrium patens as the outgroup, revealed cytonuclear discordance within the Lilium genus. Concurrently, 62 ELF4 homologs were identified in 11 angiosperms. Among them, LdELF4 in Lanzhou lily was distributed primarily in subfamily IV and was concentrated on chromosomes LG01, LG08, LG09 and LG12, with evidence of chromosomal rearrangement events compared with Lilium sargentiae. A qRT‒PCR experiment under different diurnal temperature regimens demonstrated time-dependent induction of LdELF4 expression: LdELF4.1, LdELF4.3 and LdELF4.6 were significantly upregulated in response to 25/10℃ (day/night) on day 14 of treatment. Conversely, LdELF4.4 and LdELF4.5 were significantly downregulated at 20/5℃ (day/night) on day 14. Notably, LdELF4.6 displayed the highest temperature sensitivity. Phenotypic analysis revealed that compared with the 20/20℃ (day/night) control treatment, the 25/10℃ and 20/5℃ treatments delayed flowering time by 12.5 and 7.8 d, respectively. Furthermore, the 25/10℃ treatment resulted in a reduced flower bud number when the stem diameter increased to 5.10 mm. In conclusion, on the basis of the results of this study, LdELF4.6 is a core candidate gene that regulates the response of Lanzhou lily to diurnal temperature fluctuations for growth, and 25/10℃ is the optimal temperature for bulb development. These findings provide crucial genetic resources and mechanistic insights for the breeding of novel lily varieties that are resilient to climate change.
Keywords: Cytonuclear discordance, Diurnal temperature, flowering time, LdELF4, Lilium davidii var. willmottiae
Received: 19 Aug 2025; Accepted: 09 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ma, LI, Guo, Meng, Wang, Su and Jin. 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:
Xiaohui Ma
Ling Jin
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