ABSTRACT
Adlay (Coix lacryma-jobi) is a tropical grass that has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine and is known for its nutritional benefits. Recent studies have shown that vitamin E compounds in adlay protect against chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. However, the molecular basis of adlay's health benefits remains unknown. Here, we generated adlay gene sets by de novo transcriptome assembly using long-read isoform sequencing (Iso-Seq) and short-read RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). The gene sets obtained from Iso-seq and RNA-seq contained 31,177 genes and 57,901 genes, respectively. We confirmed the validity of the assembled gene sets by experimentally analyzing the levels of prolamin and vitamin E biosynthesis-associated proteins in adlay plant tissues and seeds. We compared the screened adlay genes with known gene families from closely related plant species, such as rice, sorghum and maize. We also identified tissue-specific genes from the adlay leaf, root, and young and mature seed, and experimentally validated the differential expression of 12 randomly-selected genes. Our study of the adlay transcriptome will provide a valuable resource for genetic studies that can enhance adlay breeding programs in the future.
Subject(s)
Coix/genetics , Sequence Analysis, RNA/methods , Transcriptome/genetics , Coix/metabolism , Prolamins/metabolism , Protein Isoforms/genetics , Sorghum/genetics , Vitamin E/metabolism , Zea mays/geneticsABSTRACT
Job's tears (Coix lachryma-jobi L.) is an important crop used as food and herbal medicine in Asian countries. A drug made of Job's tears seed oil has been clinically applied to treat multiple cancers. In this study, the genetic diversity of Job's tears accessions and the fatty acid composition, triglyceride composition, and anti-proliferative effect of Job's tears seed oil were analyzed using morphological characteristics and ISSR markers, GC-MS, HPLC-ELSD, and the MTT method. ISSR analysis demonstrated low genetic diversity of Job's tears at the species level (h = 0.21, I = 0.33) and the accession level (h = 0.07, I = 0.10), and strong genetic differentiation (GST = 0.6702) among all accessions. It also clustered the 11 accessions into three cultivated clades corresponding with geographical locations and two evidently divergent wild clades. The grouping patterns based on morphological characteristics and chemical profiles were in accordance with those clustered by ISSR analysis. Significant differences in morphological characteristics, fatty acid composition, triglyceride composition, and inhibition rates of seed oil were detected among different accessions, which showed a highly significant positive correlation with genetic variation. These results suggest that the seed morphological characteristics, fatty acid composition, and triglyceride composition may be mainly attributed to genetic factors. The proportion of palmitic acid and linoleic acid to oleic acid displayed a highly significant positive correlation with the inhibition rates of Job's tears seed oil for T24 cells, and thus can be an important indicator for quality control for Job's tears.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/chemistry , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/pharmacology , Coix/chemistry , Coix/genetics , Plant Oils/chemistry , Plant Oils/pharmacology , Cell Line, Tumor , Coix/classification , DNA, Plant/genetics , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Fatty Acids/analysis , Genetic Variation , Humans , Phylogeny , Plants, Medicinal/chemistry , Plants, Medicinal/genetics , Seeds/anatomy & histology , Seeds/chemistry , Triglycerides/analysisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the genetic diversity among wild germplasm resources of Coix that distributed at altitude of 550-1550 m in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province by comparing the morphological variation, biological and economical factors. METHOD: The field plot experiments were conducted to observation the germination rate, growth period. While the milled rice rate, content of protein, crude fat and ethanol extract of 9 wild Coix germplasm resources were measured. RESULT: The germination rate of 9 germplasm was from 22% to 81%, and the growth period was among 139-156 d, which belongs to the medium-late mature type. The germination rate, growth stage, plant height, leaf length and width, tiller number, ramification number, seed number per stem of 9 Coix germplasm were significantly different (P < 0.05), respectively. The range of seed total protein contents were from 15.63% 25.74%, crude fat contents were from 5.05%-7.14%, and the contents of alcohol extract, which showed antitumor activity, were from 5.85%-7.27%. CONCLUSION: The fact of quite different in plant morphological, biological and quality characters of 9 germplasm suggested that the genetic diversity in the wild populations of Coix distributed throughout the regions of Xishuangbanna is relatively abundant.
Subject(s)
Coix/chemistry , Coix/growth & development , China , Coix/genetics , Coix/physiology , Germination , Plant Extracts/analysis , Plant Proteins/analysis , Seeds/chemistry , Seeds/genetics , Seeds/growth & development , Seeds/physiologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the mutagenic effect of gamma-rays on Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen. METHOD: Physiological and mutagenic effects of gamma-rays on C. lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen dormant seeds were studied. The germination percentage, seeding survival, seeding height and root length of M1 plants and the frequency of chlorophyll mutation in M2 generation were selected as criteria. RESULT: The gamma-rays showed obvious inhibitory action to the seedling growth, and a strong ability in inducing the chlorophyll mutation. CONCLUSION: The gamma-rays is one kind of C. lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen effective mutagen. The appropriate dose of gamma-rays is 450 Gy for C. lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen dormant seeds.