Transcriptome profile analysis reveals the regulation mechanism of floral sex differentiation in Jatropha curcas L.

Our results showed that hundreds of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in floral sex initiation period, but thousands of DEGs were involved in stamens and ovules development process. Moreover, the DEGs were mainly showed up-regulation in male floral initiation, but mainly down-regulation in female floral initiation. Male floral initiation was associated with the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway while female floral initiation was related to the phytohormone signal transduction pathway. In addition, the floral organ identity genes played important roles in floral sex differentiation process and displayed a general conservation of the ABCDE model in J. curcas. Five different samples during floral sex differentiation stages