Data from: Intergenerational environmental effects: functional signals in offspring transcriptomes and metabolomes after parental jasmonic acid treatment in apomictic dandelion

Parental environments can influence offspring traits. However, the
magnitude of the impact of parental environments on offspring molecular
phenotypes is poorly understood. Here, we test the direct effects and
intergenerational effects of jasmonic acid (JA) treatment, which is
involved in herbivory-induced defense signaling, on transcriptomes and
metabolomes in apomictic common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). In a
full factorial crossed design with parental and offspring JA and control
treatments, we performed leaf RNA-seq gene expression analysis, LC-MS
metabolomics and total phenolics assays in offspring plants. Expression
analysis, leveraged by a de novo assembled transcriptome, revealed an
induced response to JA exposure that is consistent with known JA effects.
The intergenerational effect of treatment was considerable: 307 of 858
detected JA-responsive transcripts were affected by parental JA treatment.
In terms of the numbers of metabolites affected, the magnitude of the
chemical response to parental JA exposure was c. 10% of the direct JA
treatment response. Transcriptome and metabolome analyses both identified
the phosphatidylinositol signaling pathway as a target of
intergenerational JA effects. Our results highlight that parental
environments can have substantial effects in offspring generations.
Transcriptome and metabolome assays provide a basis for zooming in on the
potential mechanisms of inherited JA effects.