Transcriptomic comparison between nickel hyperaccumulator and non-accumulator plant species from the Psychotria genus (Rubiacaeae) from Cuba

The leaf transcriptome of the nickel hyperaccumulator species Psychotria grandis and Psychotria costivenia (Rubiaceae) from Cuba were compared to the closely related non-accumulator Psychotria revoluta, living on Gallery forest on serpentine soil, to identity differentially expressed genes potentially involved in Ni hyperaccumulation. Leaves from independent plants of Psychotria grandis, Psychotria costivenia and Psychotria revoluta were collected in their natural environment. RNA of the 6 independant samples were extracted and sequenced using the Illumina paired-end sequencing technology. Reads from one individual plant per species were assembled de novo to generate transcriptome sequences. The transcriptome of P. grandis was used as a reference to compare the expression of genes in the three species