Temporal transcriptome of perennial ryegrass leaves at different developmental stages

Abstract

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) is a widely utilized high-quality cool-season turfgrass. Leaves act as the core tissues for maintaining turf green period, landscape uniformity and photosynthetic nutrient accumulation. The temporal developmental traits of leaves directly determine turf ornamental value, mowing tolerance and green-phase duration. To systematically dissect the molecular regulatory mechanisms governing the complete development of newly-emerged leaves in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), leaf tissues were collected at five key time points (4 d, 12 d, 20 d, 28 d and 36 d) of newly-grown leaves. High-throughput RNA-seq was used for temporal transcriptome sequencing to obtain genome-wide gene expression profiles of newly-emerged leaves at different developmental stages. By comparative analysis of multi-gradient time-series data, differentially expressed genes regulating photosystem establishment, chlorophyll biosynthesis and subsequent senescence were screened. Key pathways and candidate functional genes participating in leaf growth, stay-green trait and metabolic regulation were explored, and a transcriptional regulatory network for continuous leaf development of Lolium perenne L. was constructed. This dataset comprehensively captures dynamic gene expression changes of newly-emerged leaves throughout the whole course from juvenile differentiation to maturation and senescence. It provides publicly reusable fundamental transcriptomic resources for turfgrass developmental biology, molecular breeding of high-quality turfgrass with prolonged green period, and mechanistic research on leaf senescence regulation in turfgrass, and supports basic scientific research on turfgrass germplasm improvement.