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Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics
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Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 December 2023) | Viewed by 10745

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shaopei Gao

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Guest Editor
College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: sweet potato; biotechnology; molecular biology; phytohormone
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mingku Zhu

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Guest Editor
Institute of Integrative Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: sweet potato; salt tolerance; transcription factors; regulatory mechanisms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ran Xu

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Guest Editor
College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Interests: rice; grain development; panicle development; grain size
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Providing ample food for the ever-growing population is a major challenge of our time, especially in rapidly changing climate conditions. Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam., Convolvulaceae), which is one of the most widely cultivated staple crops worldwide, is a valuable source of human food, animal feed and industrial raw material. Sweet potato is high in nutritional value, exceeding most other staple foods in vitamins A and C, β-carotene, anthocyanins, calcium and dietary fiber. Consequently, sweet potato should be utilized as an excellent source of natural health-promoting compounds. In recent years, sweet potato has been in the spotlight of agricultural biotechnology and has been considered as a biological model for storage root formation. Although studies on genetics and genomics have contributed to progress on sweet potato research during the past decade, there is still a knowledge gap compared with other crops. This Special Issue in Genes, “Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics”, aims to integrate recent research in sweet potato biology by expanding our knowledge in various fields, such as genetics, molecular biology, functional genomics, biotic and abiotic stress responses, and omics studies. 

Dr. Shaopei Gao
Dr. Mingku Zhu
Prof. Dr. Ran Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sweet potato
  • functional genomics
  • molecular biology
  • agricultural biotechnology

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 5013 KiB  
Article
RNA-Sequencing Analysis Revealed Genes Associated with Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) Responses to Stem Rot during Different Infection Stages
by Chen Li, Liang Zhang, Honghu Ji, Weihan Song, Ziyu Zhong, Meiqiao Jiang, Yungang Zhang, Qiang Li, Linrun Cheng and Meng Kou
Genes 2023, 14(12), 2215; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14122215 - 14 Dec 2023
Viewed by 849
Abstract
The sweet potato, which is an important tuber crop in China, is susceptible to a variety of pathogens and insect pests during cultivation and production. Stem rot is a common sweet potato disease that seriously affects tuber yield and quality. Unfortunately, there have [...] Read more.
The sweet potato, which is an important tuber crop in China, is susceptible to a variety of pathogens and insect pests during cultivation and production. Stem rot is a common sweet potato disease that seriously affects tuber yield and quality. Unfortunately, there have been relatively few studies on the mechanism mediating the stem rot resistance of sweet potatoes. In this study, a transcriptome sequencing analysis was completed using Xushu 48 samples at different stages (T1, T2, and T3) of the stem rot infection. The T1 vs. T2, T1 vs. T3, and T2 vs. T3 comparisons detected 44,839, 81,436, and 61,932 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. The DEGs encoded proteins primarily involved in alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism (ko00250), carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms (ko00710), and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism (ko00520). Furthermore, some candidate genes induced by phytopathogen infections were identified, including gene-encoding receptor-like protein kinases (RLK5 and RLK7), an LRR receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase (SERK1), and transcription factors (bHLH137, ERF9, MYB73, and NAC053). The results of this study provide genetic insights that are relevant to future explorations of sweet potato stem rot resistance, while also providing the theoretical basis for breeding sweet potato varieties that are resistant to stem rot and other diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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14 pages, 3267 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of the PYL Gene Family in Three Ipomoea Species and the Expression Profiling of IbPYL Genes during Abiotic Stress Response in Sweetpotato
by Lei Zhang, Weihan Song, Guosheng Xin, Mingku Zhu and Xiaoqing Meng
Genes 2023, 14(7), 1471; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14071471 - 19 Jul 2023
Viewed by 777
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA), a critical phytohormone that regulates plant development and stress response, is sensed by the ABA receptors PYR/PYL/RCAR (PYLs). The PYL genes have been widely studied in multiple plant species, while a systematic analysis of PYL genes in the genus Ipomoea [...] Read more.
Abscisic acid (ABA), a critical phytohormone that regulates plant development and stress response, is sensed by the ABA receptors PYR/PYL/RCAR (PYLs). The PYL genes have been widely studied in multiple plant species, while a systematic analysis of PYL genes in the genus Ipomoea remains unperformed. Here, a total of 13, 14, and 14 PYLs were identified in Ipomoea batatas, Ipomoea trifida, and Ipomoea triloba, respectively. Fragment duplication was speculated to play prominent roles in Ipomoea PYL gene expansions. These Ipomoea PYLs were classified into three subfamilies via phylogenetic analysis, which was supported by exon–intron structures and conserved motif analyses. Additionally, the interspecies collinearity analysis further depicted a potential evolutionary relationship between them. Moreover, qRT-PCR analysis showed that multiple IbPYLs are highly and differentially responsive to abiotic stress treatments, suggesting their potential roles in sweetpotato stress responses. Taken together, these data provide valuable insights into the PYLs in the genus Ipomoea, which may be useful for their further functional analysis of their defense against environmental changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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14 pages, 2503 KiB  
Article
Transcriptome Characterization and Gene Changes Induced by Fusarium solani in Sweetpotato Roots
by Chengling Zhang, Qinchuan Luo, Wei Tang, Jukui Ma, Dongjing Yang, Jingwei Chen, Fangyuan Gao, Houjun Sun and Yiping Xie
Genes 2023, 14(5), 969; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14050969 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1321
Abstract
Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is an important root crop that is infected by Fusarium solani in both seedling and root stages, causing irregular black or brown disease spots and root rot and canker. This study aims to use RNA sequencing technology to [...] Read more.
Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is an important root crop that is infected by Fusarium solani in both seedling and root stages, causing irregular black or brown disease spots and root rot and canker. This study aims to use RNA sequencing technology to investigate the dynamic changes in root transcriptome profiles between control check and roots at 6 h, 24 h, 3 days, and 5 days post-inoculation (hpi/dpi) with F. solani. The results showed that the defense reaction of sweetpotato could be divided into an early step (6 and 24 hpi) without symptoms and a late step to respond to F. solani infection (3 and 5 dpi). The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in response to F. solani infection were enriched in the cellular component, biological process, and molecular function, with more DEGs in the biological process and molecular function than in the cellular component. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that the main pathways were metabolic pathways, the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and carbon metabolism. More downregulated genes were identified than upregulated genes in the plant–pathogen interaction and transcription factors, which might be related to the degree of host resistance to F. solani. The findings of this study provide an important basis to further characterize the complex mechanisms of sweetpotato resistance against biotic stress and identify new candidate genes for increasing the resistance of sweetpotato. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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13 pages, 4214 KiB  
Article
Plastidial Phosphoglucomutase (pPGM) Overexpression Increases the Starch Content of Transgenic Sweet Potato Storage Roots
by Yannan Wang, Huan Zhang, Yan Li, Qian Zhang, Qingchang Liu, Hong Zhai, Ning Zhao, Yufeng Yang and Shaozhen He
Genes 2022, 13(12), 2234; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13122234 - 28 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1641
Abstract
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), an important root crop, has storage roots rich in starch that are edible and serve as a raw material in bioenergy production. Increasing the storage-root starch contents is a key sweet potato breeding goal. Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) is the catalytic [...] Read more.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), an important root crop, has storage roots rich in starch that are edible and serve as a raw material in bioenergy production. Increasing the storage-root starch contents is a key sweet potato breeding goal. Phosphoglucomutase (PGM) is the catalytic enzyme for the interconversion of glucose-6-phosphate and glucose-1-phosphate, precursors in the plant starch synthetic pathway. Plant PGMs have plastidial and cytosolic isoforms, based on their subcellular localization. Here, IbpPGM, containing 22 exons and 21 introns, was cloned from the sweet potato line Xu 781. This gene was highly expressed in the storage roots and leaves, and its expression was induced by exogenous sucrose treatments. The mature IbpPGM protein was successfully expressed in Escherichia coli when a 73-aa chloroplastic transit peptide detected in the N-terminus was excised. The subcellular localization confirmed that IbpPGM was localized to the chloroplasts. The low-starch sweet potato cultivar Lizixiang IbpPGM-overexpression lines showed significantly increased starch, glucose, and fructose levels but a decreased sucrose level. Additionally, the expression levels of the starch synthetic pathway genes in the storage roots were up-regulated to different extents. Thus, IbpPGM significantly increased the starch content of the sweet potato storage roots, which makes it a candidate gene for the genetic engineering of the sweet potato. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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19 pages, 7306 KiB  
Article
Expression of the Sweet Potato MYB Transcription Factor IbMYB48 Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance in Arabidopsis
by Hongyuan Zhao, Haoqiang Zhao, Yuanfeng Hu, Shanshan Zhang, Shaozhen He, Huan Zhang, Ning Zhao, Qingchang Liu, Shaopei Gao and Hong Zhai
Genes 2022, 13(10), 1883; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13101883 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2065
Abstract
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) is one of the most crucial food crops widely cultivated worldwide. In plants, MYB transcription factors play crucial roles in plant growth, defense regulation, and stress resistance. However, the regulatory mechanism of MYBs in salt and [...] Read more.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) is one of the most crucial food crops widely cultivated worldwide. In plants, MYB transcription factors play crucial roles in plant growth, defense regulation, and stress resistance. However, the regulatory mechanism of MYBs in salt and drought response remain poorly studied in sweet potato. By screening a transcriptome database for differentially expressed genes between the sweet potato variety Jingshu 6 and its mutant JS6-5 with high anthocyanin and increased tolerance to salt and drought stresses, we identified a R2R3-MYB gene IbMYB48, for which expression was induced by PEG6000, NaCl, abscisic acid (ABA), methyl jasmonic acid (MeJA), salicylic acid (SA) and H2O2. Particle-mediated transient transformation of onion epidermal cells showed IbMYB48 is localized in the nucleus. Transactivation activity assay in yeast cells revealed that IbMYB48 has transactivation activity, and its active domain is located in the carboxyl (C)-terminal region. Furthermore, expression of IbMYB48 confers enhanced tolerance to salt and drought stresses in transgenic Arabidopsis. The contents of endogenous ABA, JA, and proline in transgenic lines were higher than control, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was significantly increased under salt and drought stress conditions. By contrast, the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and H2O2 were lower. Moreover, genes encoding enzymes involved in ABA biosynthetic pathway, JA biosynthesis and signaling pathway, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system were significantly up-regulated in transgenic Arabidopsis under salt or drought stress. Altogether, these results suggest IbMYB48 may be a candidate gene for improvement of abiotic stress tolerance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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20 pages, 4337 KiB  
Article
IbMYB308, a Sweet Potato R2R3-MYB Gene, Improves Salt Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco
by Chong Wang, Lianjun Wang, Jian Lei, Shasha Chai, Xiaojie Jin, Yuyan Zou, Xiaoqiong Sun, Yuqin Mei, Xianliang Cheng, Xinsun Yang, Chunhai Jiao and Xiaohai Tian
Genes 2022, 13(8), 1476; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13081476 - 18 Aug 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2052
Abstract
The MYB (v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog) transcription factor family plays an important role in plant growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the gene functions of MYB transcription factors in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) have [...] Read more.
The MYB (v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog) transcription factor family plays an important role in plant growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the gene functions of MYB transcription factors in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) have not been elucidated. In this study, an MYB transcription factor gene, IbMYB308, was identified and isolated from sweet potato. Multiple sequence alignment showed that IbMYB308 is a typical R2R3-MYB transcription factor. Further, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis revealed that IbMYB308 was expressed in root, stem, and, especially, leaf tissues. Moreover, it showed that IbMYB308 had a tissue-specific profile. The experiment also showed that the expression of IbMYB308 was induced by different abiotic stresses (20% PEG-6000, 200 mM NaCl, and 20% H2O2). After a 200 mM NaCl treatment, the expression of several stress-related genes (SOD, POD, APX, and P5CS) was upregulation in transgenic plants, and the CAT activity, POD activity, proline content, and protein content in transgenic tobacco had increased, while MDA content had decreased. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that IbMYB308 could improve salt stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco. These findings lay a foundation for future studies on the R2R3-MYB gene family of sweet potato and suggest that IbMYB308 could potentially be used as an important positive factor in transgenic plant breeding to improve salt stress tolerance in sweet potato plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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11 pages, 1526 KiB  
Review
Research Progress in the Mechanisms of Resistance to Biotic Stress in Sweet Potato
by Yinghui Yang, Yanqi Chen, Yuxin Bo, Qingchang Liu and Hong Zhai
Genes 2023, 14(11), 2106; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14112106 - 20 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1261
Abstract
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is one of the most important food, feed, industrial raw materials, and new energy crops, and is widely cultivated around the world. China is the largest sweet potato producer in the world, and the sweet potato [...] Read more.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is one of the most important food, feed, industrial raw materials, and new energy crops, and is widely cultivated around the world. China is the largest sweet potato producer in the world, and the sweet potato industry plays an important role in China’s agriculture. During the growth of sweet potato, it is often affected by biotic stresses, such as fungi, nematodes, insects, viruses, and bacteria. These stressors are widespread worldwide and have severely restricted the production of sweet potato. In recent years, with the rapid development and maturity of biotechnology, an increasing number of stress-related genes have been introduced into sweet potato, which improves its quality and resistance of sweet potato. This paper summarizes the discovery of biological stress-related genes in sweet potato and the related mechanisms of stress resistance from the perspectives of genomics analysis, transcriptomics analysis, genetic engineering, and physiological and biochemical indicators. The mechanisms of stress resistance provide a reference for analyzing the molecular breeding of disease resistance mechanisms and biotic stress resistance in sweet potato. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sweet Potato Genetics and Genomics)
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