Transcriptional expression profile reveals the genetic mechanism of apomixis in wild germplasm materials of Kentucky bluegrass in Gansu Province

purpose: we report the results of global gene expression analysis of wild germplasm materials of Kentucky bluegrass spikelets in Gansu, Chain with significant differences in apomictic rate, in order to identify genes, biological processes and molecular functions related to apomixis.Methods: using wild Kentucky bluegrass germplasm resources in Gansu with significant difference in apomictic rate as materials, and using high-throughput sequencing technique to obtain spikelet reference transcriptome of the two genotypes of Kentucky bluegrass.Results: At the four periods, there were 5400 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two genotypes, including 2476 down-regulated and 2823 up-regulated genes. analysis of GO, KEGG, gene expression pattern, WGCNA and transcription factors (TFs) showed that At the transcriptional level, the genesis and development of apomixis is regulated by TFs.In addition, it also involves the coexpression of many genes that include disorder of meiosis, hormone signal transduction, embryonic development, stress response pathways, and epigenetic.Conclusions: The results showed that the apomixis of Kentucky bluegrass was caused by the change of the expression of genes related to sexual reproduction pathway, which led to the disorder of normal sexual reproduction, and then produced offspring by apomixis.