ARS | Publication request: Transcriptome sequencing of Hydrangea macrophylla a non-model woody plant and specialty crop

Submitted to: Botanical Society of America Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: July 9, 2011
Publication Date: July 9, 2011
Citation: Rinehart, T.A., Reed, S.M., Scheffler, B.E. 2011. Transcriptome sequencing of Hydrangea macrophylla a non-model woody plant and specialty crop. Botanical Society of America Abstracts. vol 1 pg 92.

Technical Abstract: Transcriptome sequencing is a useful first step in functional genomic studies, microarray and gene expression studies, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) surveys, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, and genomic scans of diversity. Massively parallel pyrosequencing technology has been used extensively on agronomic crop and model plants. Here we describe annotation and sequence comparison of a normalized EST library from a non-model crop, Hydrangea macrophylla, which is grown as a woody landscape ornamental plant, forced greenhouse floral crop, and for cut flowers. Transcriptome sequences were generated using 454 GS-FLX Titanium sequencing of a single normalized EST library made from leaf, bud, stem, and flower tissue. Median sequence length was 431 base pairs and sequencing generated 1.1 million high-quality reads. Assembled data include 46,673 contigs that break down into 42,664 isotigs and 24,201 isogroups. BLAST2Go was used for sequence annotation. Transcriptome data was screened for microsatellites regions, which produced primer pairs for 3500 new SSR markers to saturate linkage map for Hydrange macrophylla. SNP discovery is underway as well. Here we provide a list of candidate genes that could be utilized in future experiments to increase flowering, resist powdery mildew, and enhance floral characteristics.