Temporal Gene Expression Profiles From Pollination to Seed Maturity in Sorghum Provide Core Candidates for Engineering Seed Traits
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Date
2025
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Abstract
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a highly nutritional multipurpose millet crop. However, the genetic and molecular
regulatory mechanisms governing sorghum grain development and the associated agronomic traits remain unexplored. In this
study, we performed a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of pistils collected 1–2 days before pollination, and developing
seeds collected–2, 10, 20 and 30 days after pollination of S. bicolor variety M35‐1. Out of 31337 genes expressed in these stages,
12804 were differentially expressed in the consecutive stages of seed development. These exhibited 10 dominant expression
patterns correlated with the distinct pathways and gene functions. Functional analysis, based on the pathway mapping,
transcription factor enrichment and orthology, delineated the key patterns associated with pollination, fertilization, early seed
development, grain filling and seed maturation. Furthermore, colocalization with previously reported quantitative trait loci
(QTLs) for grain weight/size revealed 48 differentially expressed genes mapping to these QTL regions. Comprehensive literature
mining integrated with QTL mapping and expression data shortlisted 25, 17 and 8 core candidates for engineering grain size,
starch and protein content, respectively