Rosa chinensis Transcriptome or Gene expression

Roses are one of the most important cut flower among ornamental plants. Rose flower longevity is relative to the timing of petal shedding occurrence. To understand the molecular mechanism underlying petal abscission in rose, we performed Pyro-sequencing technology to analyze the petal abscission zone transcriptome of rose during petal shedding. We identified a total of 2592 differentially transcribed genes (DTGs) during rose petal shedding. Approximately 111 DTGs were related to hormone pathways, of which auxin and ethylene related DTGs are largest groups including 52 and 41 genes, respectively. Moreover, among auxin related DTGs, we identified an AUX/IAA gene RhIAA16, which was induced in response to petal shedding, and has significantly higher expression level in petal abscission zone than adjacent organs petal and receptacle by qRT-PCR. Silencing RhIAA16 in rose delayed petal abscission by virus-induced gene silencing, suggesting RhIAA16 plays a role in rose petal abscission.