RESUMEN
Ipomoeapes-caprae (L.) (IPC) is a common species in tropical and subtropical coastal areas and one of the world's most widely distributed plants. It has attracted researchers for its outstanding biological, ecological and medicinal values. It has been reported that the genetic diversity of IPCs located on different continents is very low because of their frequent gene flow. During the long journey of evolution, every aspect of the plant morphologies has evolved to the best adaptivity to the environment, seeking their survival and progeny expansion. However, the fundamental genetic characteristics of IPC and how their seed adapted to the success of population expansion remain unknown. In this study, the fundamental genetic characteristics, including the genome size and the chromosome number of IPC, were investigated. The results showed that IPC's genome size is approximately 0.98-1.08 GB, and the chromosome number is 2n=30, providing the basic information for further genome analysis. In order to decipher the long-distance dispersal secret of this species, the fruit and seed developments, seed morphology, and seed germination were extensively investigated and described. The results showed an exquisite adaptive mechanism of IPC seeds to fulfil the population expansion via ocean currents. The large cavity inside the seeds and the dense tomenta on the surface provide the buoyancy force for the seeds to float on the seawater. The hard seed coats significantly obstructed the water absorption, thus preventing the seed from germination during the dispersal. Meanwhile, the fully developed embryos of IPC also have physiological dormancy. The physical and physiological characteristics of IPC seeds provide insight into the mechanism of their long-distance dispersal across the oceans. Moreover, based on morphological observation and semi-section microscopy, the development pattern of IPC glander trichomes was described, and their physiological functions were also discussed.
RESUMEN
The SQUAMOSA promoter binding proteins (SBPs) gene family plays important roles in plant growth and development. The SBP gene family has been identified and reported in many species, but it has not been well studied in passion fruit. In this study, a total of 14 SBP genes were identified in passion fruit and named from PeSBP1 to PeSBP14 based on their chromosomal distribution. The phylogenetic tree, gene structure, conserved motifs, collinearity analysis, and expression patterns of the identified SBP members were analyzed. We classified the PeSBP genes into eight groups (I to VIII) according to the phylogenetic tree, gene structure, and conserved motifs. Synteny analysis found that 5 homologous gene pairs existed in PeSBP genes and 11 orthologous gene pairs existed between passion fruit and Arabidopsis. Synonymous nucleotide substitution analysis showed that the PeSBP genes were under strong negative selection. The expression pattern of PeSBP genes in seed, root, leaf, and flower showed that nine of the PeSBP genes displayed high expression in the leaf and the flower. The expression patterns of PeSBP3/6/8/9/10 were further detected by qRT-PCR. In addition, differences in the expression levels occurred for each gene in the different flower organs and at the different developmental stages. There were large differences among SBPs based on transcriptional levels under cold, heat, salt, and osmotic stress conditions. Altogether, this study provides an overview of SBP genes in passion fruit and lays the foundation for further functional analysis.
