Construction of a high-quality genomic BAC library for Chinese peanut cultivar Zhonghua 8 with high oil content

The resistance of peanut to soil-borne pathogens improved by rhizosphere probiotics under calcium treatment

Background

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an important oil and economic crop. Calcium modulates plants in response to abiotic stresses and improves plant resistance to pathogens. Enrichment of beneficial microorganisms in the rhizosphere is associated with plant disease resistance and soil development. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in peanut rhizosphere microbial community structure between the calcium treatment and the control during two growth stages and to explain why calcium application could improve the resistance of peanuts to soil-borne pathogens.

Results

The 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing of rhizosphere microbiome showed that calcium application significantly enriched Serratia marcescens and other three dominant strains at the seedling stage. At the pod filling stage, ten dominant stains such as Sphingomonas changbaiensis and Novosphingobium panipatense were enriched by calcium. Serratia marcescens aseptic fermentation filtrate was mixed with PDA medium and inoculated with the main soil-borne pathogens in the seedling stage, which could inhibit the growth of Fusarium solani and Aspergillus flavus. The aseptic fermentation filtrate of Novosphingobium panipatense was mixed with PDA medium and inoculated with the main soil-borne pathogens in the pod filling stage, which could inhibit the growth of Sclerotium rolfsii and Leptosphaerulina arachidicola.

Conclusions

Calcium application increases the resistance of peanuts to soil-borne pathogens by enriching them with specific dominant bacteria.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12866-021-02355-3.

Transcriptome of peanut kernel and shell reveals the mechanism of calcium on peanut pod development

Calcium is not only a nutrient necessary for plant growth but also a ubiquitous central element of different signaling pathways. Ca²⁺ deficiency in soil may cause embryo abortion, which can eventually lead to abnormal development of peanut pods during the harvest season. To further study the mechanisms by which Ca²⁺ affects the shells and kernels of peanuts, transcriptome sequencing was used to explore the genes differentially expressed in shells and kernels during the early stage of peanut pod development between Ca²⁺ sufficient and deficient treatments. In this study, 38,894 expressed genes were detected. RNA-seq based gene expression profiling showed a large number of genes at the transcriptional level that changed significantly in shells and kernels between the Ca²⁺ sufficient and deficient treatments, respectively. Genes encoding key proteins involved in Ca²⁺ signal transduction, hormones, development, ion transport, and nutrition absorption changed significantly. Meanwhile, in the early stage of pod development, calcium first promoted nutrient absorption and development of shells, which has less effect on the formation of seed kernels. These results provide useful information for understanding the relationship between Ca²⁺ absorption and pod development.

Reproducible genomic DNA preparation from diverse crop species for molecular genetic applications

BACKGROUND

Several high-throughput molecular genetic analyses rely on high-quality genomic DNA. Copurification of other molecules can negatively impact the functionality of plant DNA preparations employed in these procedures. Isolating DNA from agronomically important crops, such as sugarcane, rice, citrus, potato and tomato is a challenge due to the presence of high fiber, polysaccharides, or secondary metabolites. We present a simplified, rapid and reproducible SDS-based method that provides high-quality and -quantity of DNA from small amounts of leaf tissue, as required by the emerging biotechnology and molecular genetic applications.

RESULTS

We developed the TENS-CO method as a simplified SDS-based isolation procedure with sequential steps of purification to remove polysaccharides and polyphenols using 2-mercaptoethanol and potassium acetate, chloroform partitioning, and sodium acetate/ethanol precipitation to yield high-quantity and -quality DNA consistently from small amounts of tissue (0.15 g) for different plant species. The method is simplified and rapid in terms of requiring minimal manipulation, smaller extraction volume, reduced homogenization time (20 s) and DNA precipitation (one precipitation for 1 h). The method has been demonstrated to accelerate screening of large amounts of plant tissues from species that are rich in polysaccharides and secondary metabolites for Southern blot analysis of reporter gene overexpressing lines, pathogen detection by quantitative PCR, and genotyping of disease-resistant plants using marker-assisted selection.

CONCLUSION

To facilitate molecular genetic studies in major agronomical crops, we have developed the TENS-CO method as a simple, rapid, reproducible and scalable protocol enabling efficient and robust isolation of high-quality and -quantity DNA from small amounts of tissue from sugarcane, rice, citrus, potato, and tomato, thereby reducing significantly the time and resources used for DNA isolation.

Transcriptome and Differential Expression Profiling Analysis of the Mechanism of Ca2+ Regulation in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) Pod Development

Calcium not only serves as a necessary nutrient for plant growth but also acts as a ubiquitous central hub in a large number of signaling pathways. Free Ca²⁺ deficiency in the soil may cause early embryo abortion, which eventually led to abnormal development of peanut pod during the harvest season. To understand the mechanisms of Ca²⁺ regulation in pod development, transcriptome analysis of peanut gynophores and pods was performed by comparing the treatments between free Ca²⁺ sufficiency and free Ca²⁺ deficiency using Illumina HiSeq™ 2000. 9,903,082,800 nt bases are generated totally. After assembly, the average length of 102,819 unigenes is 999 nt, N50 is 1,782 nt. RNA-seq based gene expression profilings showed a large number of genes at the transcriptional level changed significantly between the aerial pegs and underground swelling pods under free Ca²⁺ sufficienct or deficiency treatments, respectively. Genes encoding key members of Ca²⁺ signaling transduction pathway, enzymes for hormone metabolism, cell division and growth, transcriptional factor as well as embryo development were highlighted. This information provides useful information for our further study. The results of digital gene expression (DGE) indicated that exogenous calcium might contribute to the development of peanut pod through its signal transduction pathway, meanwhile, promote the normal transition of the gynophores to the reproductive development.