Fol. Biol. 2023, 69, 99-106

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2023069030099

De novo Transcriptome Analysis and Gene Expression Profiling of Corylus Species

Salih Ulu1, Zehra Omeroglu Ulu1,2, Aysun Akar3, Nehir Ozdemir Ozgenturk1

1Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Art and Science, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
2Department of Genetics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey
3Hazelnut Research Institution, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Giresun, Turkey

Received July 2023
Accepted November 2023

Hazelnut (Corylus), which has high commercial and nutritional benefits, is an important tree for producing nuts and nut oil consumed as ingredient especially in chocolate. While Corylus avellana L. (Euro­pean hazelnut, Betulaceae) and Corylus colurna L. (Turkish hazelnut, Betulaceae) are the two common hazelnut species in Europe, C. avellana L. (Tombul hazelnut) is grown as the most widespread hazelnut species in Turkey, and C. colurna L., which is the most important genetic resource for hazelnut breeding, exists naturally in Anatolia. We generated the transcriptome data of these two Corylus species and used these data for gene discovery and gene expression profiling. Total RNA from young leaves, flowers (male and female), buds, and husk shoots of C. avellana and C. colurna were used for two different libraries and were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq4000 with 100 bp paired-end reads. The transcriptome data 10.48 and 10.30 Gb of C. avellana and C. colurna, respectively, were assembled into 70,265 and 88,343 unigenes, respectively. These unigenes were functionally annotated using the TRAPID platform. We identified 25,312 and 27,051 simple sequen­ce repeats (SSRs) for C. avellana and C. colurna, respectively. TL1, GMPM1, N, 2MMP, At1g29670, CHIB1 unigenes were selected for validation with qPCR. The first de novo transcriptome data of C. co­lurna were used to compare data of C. avellana of commercial importance. These data constitute a valuable extension of the publicly available transcriptomic resource aimed at breeding, medicinal, and industrial research studies.

Funding

This study was supported by Yildiz Technical University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit under project number FBA-2017-3134.

References

29 live references