Masting is a widespread phenomenon of intermittent and synchronous flowering and seeding in plant populations. Nutrients are known to modify flowering time. In a typical masting tree, Fagus crenate, it was found that nitrogen fertilization can result in higher flowering gene expression. While our understanding about the physiological and molecular mechanisms of relationship between endogenous nutrients and flowering, especially in masting species, is still incompleted.
In this study, we explored the relationship between nutrient transport and flowering dynamics by field transcriptomics in two species, Lithocarpus edulis and Quercus glauca, to unravel the evolution of reproductive strategies in trees.
Firstly, field transcriptomics of two species established to detect the potential biological processes associated with floral induction, and which revealed that the genes related to the nitrate transport, sugar transport, and phosphorus transport were enriched and showed differential seasonal expression patterns. In these biological processes, we chose five candidate genes underlying transcriptome analyses and gene function annotations, which may have potential relationship with flowering, and one may be related with the leaf senescence. The preliminary result of RT-qPCR analysis showed one candidate gene, NITRATE TRANSPORTER 1 /PEPTIDE TRANSPORTER FAMILY 1.2(NPF1.2)s in masting species have the same function to transport nitrate from source tissues to sink tissues as AtNPF1.2. We are going on other candidate genes expression analyses in different study sites, and association analyses on their relationships to masting events.