Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and metabolic comparison between white cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. sabauda)

초록

Plant leaves are one of the most eminent features of plants. After emerging from the shoot apical meristem, they produce diverse leaf shapes in different species, determined by leaf morphogenesis. Leaves with different morphologies might have different light energy utilization efficiencies and it might result in yield differences. Thus, it is important to study the genes affecting the leaf morphology in plants, particularly leafy vegetable such as cabbage. Savoy cabbage has a unique, bumpy leaf surface compared to other cabbages. However, study on bumpy leaf surface development of savoy cabbage was not explored so far. In this study, to reveal molecular details related to the bumpy leaf phenotype of savoy cabbage, we conducted transcriptomic analysis between white cabbage (with flat leaf surface) and savoy cabbage (with bumpy leaf surface). KNOX family genes like BoKNAT1 and BoKNAT4 were isolated from the transcriptome analysis as putative candidate genes for bumpy leaf surface of savoy cabbage. In addition, KEGG analysis indicated that secondary metabolisms are significantly affected between savoy and white cabbage. Examination of secondary metabolites such as camalexin (defensive compound) and glucosinolates (anti-cancer substances) between white and savoy cabbage indicated that savoy cabbage more accumulates these functional secondary metabolites than white cabbage. This study found that savoy cabbage has higher amounts of functional metabolites. In addition, our comparative transcriptome dataset provides the foundation to understand the molecular details underlying bumpy leaves found in the savoy cabbage plants.

키워드