Gene expression profiling during storage root formation in sweet potato. Ipomoea batatas

A Microarray experiment was carried out in order to establish the genetic processes and control mechanism involved during storage root formation in Sweetpotato. A Sweetpotato cDNA chip was created from five varieties covering all the growth stages between them. mRNA from primordial root, fibrous root, pencil root and thick storage root was extracted from four varieties of Sweetpotato. The expression profiles were compared between the root growth stages. Keywords: Transcription profiling Overall design: One condition experiment with time as a single parameter. Four different varieties of Sweetpotato (SPK004, Beauregard, Tanzania and Feng Shou Bai) with four growth stages (i.e. 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 10 weeks and 16 weeks) each were used for the comparison. Two pairs of biological replicates and one dye swap for each time point and variety were taken.