Transcriptome analysis reveals candidate genes associated with the white-flower phenotype of a sainfoin mutant generated by EMS

Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop) is a perennial herbaceous forage legume, grown as a forage source for ruminants in grassland based livestock production systems. Flower color is associated with the agronomic characters of plants directly or indirectly, and classical breeding methods have been extensively used to develop cultivars with flowers varying in color. So far, the understanding of the molecular mechanism of sainfoin floral color traits remains unclear. The transcriptome database created by RNA-seq is used to identify the critical genes related to flower color traits.