A long-standing goal in plant breeding has been the ability to confer apomixis to agriculturally relevant species, which would require a deeper comprehension of the molecular basis of apomictic regulatory mechanisms. Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees is a perennial grass that includes both sexual and apomictic cytotypes. The availability of a reference transcriptome for this species would constitute a very important tool toward the identification of genes controlling key steps of the apomictic pathway. Here, we used Roche/454 sequencing technologies to generate reads from inflorescences of E. curvula apomictic and sexual genotypes that were de novo assembled into a reference transcriptome. Near 90% of the 49568 assembled isotigs showed sequence similarity to sequences deposited in the public databases. A gene ontology analysis categorized 27448 isotigs into at least one of the three main GO categories. We identified 11475 SSRs, and several of them were assayed in E curvula germoplasm using SSR-based primers, providing a valuable set of molecular markers that could allow direct allele selection. The differential contribution to each library of the spliced forms of several transcripts revealed the existence of several isotigs produced via alternative splicing of single genes. The reference transcriptome presented and validated in this work will be useful for the identification of a wide range of gene(s) related to agronomic traits of E. curvula, including those controlling key steps of the apomictic pathway in this species, allowing the extrapolation of the findings to other plant species.

Eragrostis curvula includes biotypes reproducing through obligate and facultative apomixis or, rarely, full sexuality. We previously generated a “tetraploid-dihaploid-tetraploid” series of plants consisting of a tetraploid apomictic plant (T), a sexual dihaploid plant (D) and a tetraploid artificial colchiploid (C). Initially, plant C was nearly 100% sexual. However, its capacity to form non-reduced embryo sacs dramatically increased over a four year period (2003–2007) to reach levels of 85–90%. Here, we confirmed high rates of apomixis in plant C, and used AFLPs and MSAPs to characterize the genetic and epigenetic variation observed in this plant in 2007 as compared to 2003. Of the polymorphic sequences, some had no coding potential whereas others were homologous to retrotransposons and/or protein-coding-like sequences. Our results suggest that in this particular plant system increased apomixis expression is concurrent with genetic and epigenetic modifications, possibly involving transposable elements.

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Recent reports in model plant species have highlighted a role for DNA methylation pathways in the regulation of the somatic-to-reproductive transition in the ovule, suggesting that apomixis (asexual reproduction through seeds) likely relies on RdDM downregulation. Our aim was therefore to explore this hypothesis by characterizing genes involved in DNA methylation in the apomictic grass Eragrostis curvula. We explored floral transcriptomes to identify homologs of three candidate genes, for which mutations in Arabidopsis and maize mimic apomixis (AtAGO9/ZmAGO104, AtCMT3/ZmDMT102/ZmDMT105, and AtDDM1/ZmCHR106), and compared both their spatial and temporal expression patterns during reproduction in sexual and apomictic genotypes. Quantitative expression analyses revealed contrasting expression patterns for the three genes in apomictic vs sexual plants. In situ hybridization corroborated these results for two candidates, EcAGO104 and EcDMT102, and revealed an unexpected ectopic pattern for the AGO gene during germ line differentiation in apomicts. Although our data partially support previous results obtained in sexual plant models, they suggest that rather than an RdDM breakdown in the ovule, altered localization of AtAGO9/ZmAGO104 expression is required for achieving diplospory in E. curvula. The differences in the RdDM machinery acquired during plant evolution might have promoted the emergence of the numerous apomictic paths observed in plants.

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Eragrostis curvula (Schrad) Nees (weeping lovegrass) represents important cultivated forage in semiarid regions, and the most useful cultivars are tetraploid and reproduce by pseudogamous diplosporous apomixis. We previously produced a series of genetically related E. curvula lines that provide a suitable system for the identification of gene(s) involved in diplosporous apomixis and ploidy, including a natural apomictic tetraploid (T), a diploid sexual line (D), and a tetraploid sexual plant (C). A collection of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) was generated from cDNA libraries obtained from panicles of the D, T, and C, and leaves of the T. The present study aimed to analyze the repetitive content of these four cDNA libraries and further identify and characterize transposable element (TE)-related ESTs. Repetitive sequences were identified through the interface RepeatMasker (RM) using the database Repbase Update and further classification of TEs was performed manually from the RM output. The different contribution of ESTs with identity to TEs among libraries was further evaluated, and such differences were validated through RT-qPCR. We found that the percentage of repetitive content in the leaf cDNA library was almost double than in inflorescence libraries, with retrotransposons contributing mostly in all libraries. The expression of TE-related ESTs was compared in cDNA samples extracted from D, T, and C leaves or inflorescences revealing that seven mRNAs containing MuDR-like DNA transposons, Gypsy-like, and Copia-like retrotransposons were differentially represented according to tissue, reproductive mode, or ploidy. The euploid series of Eragrostis curvula is a useful model to the study of epigenomic changes produced after changes in ploidy. The present work constitutes the first detailed report on repetitive sequences of Eragrostis curvula at the transcriptome level.

BackgroundThe number and complexity of repetitive elements varies between species, being in general most represented in those with larger genomes. Combining the flow-sorted chromosome arms approach to genome analysis with second generation DNA sequencing technologies provides a unique opportunity to study the repetitive portion of each chromosome, enabling comparisons among them. Additionally, different sequencing approaches may produce different depth of insight to repeatome content and structure. In this work we analyze and characterize the repetitive sequences of Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring homeologous group 4 chromosome arms, obtained through Roche 454 and Illumina sequencing technologies, hereinafter marked by subscripts 454 and I, respectively.Repetitive sequences were identified with the RepeatMasker software using the interspersed repeat database mips-REdat_v9.0p. The input sequences consisted of our 4DS454 and 4DL454 scaffolds and 4ASI, 4ALI, 4BSI, 4BLI, 4DSI and 4DLI contigs, downloaded from the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC).ResultsRepetitive sequences content varied from 55% to 63% for all chromosome arm assemblies except for 4DLI, in which the repeat content was 38%. Transposable elements, small RNA, satellites, simple repeats and low complexity sequences were analyzed. SSR frequency was found one per 24 to 27 kb for all chromosome assemblies except 4DLI, where it was three times higher. Dinucleotides and trinucleotides were the most abundant SSR repeat units. (GA)n/(TC)n was the most abundant SSR except for 4DLI where the most frequently identified SSR was (CCG/CGG)n. Retrotransposons followed by DNA transposons were the most highly represented sequence repeats, mainly composed of CACTA/En-Spm and Gypsy superfamilies, respectively. This whole chromosome sequence analysis allowed identification of three new LTR retrotransposon families belonging to the Copia superfamily, one belonging to the Gypsy superfamily and two TRIM retrotransposon families. Their physical distribution in wheat genome was analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and one of them, the Carmen retrotransposon, was found specific for centromeric regions of all wheat chromosomes.ConclusionThe presented work is the first deep report of wheat repetitive sequences analyzed at the chromosome arm level, revealing the first insight into the repeatome of T. aestivum chromosomes of homeologous group 4.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1579-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The identification of nested motifs in genomic sequences is a complex computational problem. The detection of these patterns is important to allow the discovery of transposable element (TE) insertions, incomplete reverse transcripts, deletions, and/or mutations. In this study, a de novo strategy for detecting patterns that represent nested motifs was designed based on exhaustive searches for pairs of motifs and combinatorial pattern analysis. These patterns can be grouped into three categories, motifs within other motifs, motifs flanked by other motifs, and motifs of large size. The methodology used in this study, applied to genomic sequences from the plant species Aegilops tauschii and Oryza sativa, revealed that it is possible to identify putative nested TEs by detecting these three types of patterns. The results were validated through BLAST alignments, which revealed the efficacy and usefulness of the new method, which is called Mamushka.