De novo Assembly of Royal Iris (Iris atropurpurea, section Oncocyclus) transcriptome

Transcriptome sequencing of non-model organisms is valuable resource of the genetic basis of ecological-meaningful traits. The Royal Irises, Iris section Oncocyclus (Iris: Iridaceae, order Asparagales), are a Middle-East group of species in the course of speciation. The species are characterized with extremely large flowers, a huge range of flower colors and a unique pollination system. The Royal Irises, which are a symbol of conservation in the Middle-east, serve as a model for evolutionary processes of speciation and plant ecology. However, there are not sufficient transcriptomic and genomic data for molecular characterization. Thus, it is necessary to generate massive transcript sequences for functional characterization and molecular marker development for the Royal Irises. The Iris transcriptome sequencing provides valuable resource for studying adaptation-associated traits in this non-model plant. Although intensive eco-evolutionary studies, this is the first reported transcriptome for the Royal Irises. The data available from this study will facilitate gene discovery, functional genomic studies and development of molecular markers in irises, and will provide genetic tools for their conservation. In this work, we report the de novo assembly of a transcriptome for Iris atropurpurea, one of the Royal Irises species. This is the first reported transcriptome for this section, representing genes expressed in root, young leaf tissue and 3 flower development stages.