Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses reveal the flavor of bitterness in the tip shoots of Bambusa oldhamii Munro

The clumping bamboo, Bambusa oldhamii has a geographical preference that limited its growth area in the southeast region of China. In suitable locations, every summer the delicious edible rhizome buds (developed into bamboo shoots) would be enlarged and stretched out from underground to aboveground. The best delicious tasty, crispy, and nutritious bamboo shoots are usually at the stages of just coming to the surface, at this stage, the rhizome buds usually enlarged enough, and the taste is good. However, when the bamboo shoots stretched out on the soil surface, the sheaths of the bamboo shoots' color would be changed to green, and the taste of bitterness would be formed in the tip of the bamboo shoots. How is the special different bamboo shoot tasty formed in B. oldhamii from underground to aboveground interested us for deep searching using transcriptome and metabolome.