Gene Regulation Analysis of Alpha-linolenic Acid Metabolism in Fatty Acid Development of Camellia oleifera Seeds

In an effort to better understand the factors that control alpha-linolenic acid metabolism in Camellia oleifera seeds, we had constructed the transcriptome library and expression profile of developing Camellia oleifera seeds with the initial stage and the peak stage, and had annotated detailedly the non-redundant unigenes in the transcriptome library. Comprehensive analysis of alpha-linolenic acid metabolism was carried out according to KEGG database. There were one hundred and twelve non-redundant gene unigenes, which involved fourteen key enzyme genes related to alpha-linolenic acid metabolism of Camellia oleifera seeds. The result of expression profile analysis concluded that there were four types of gene expression differences in alpha-linolenic acid metabolism under different developmental stage of Camellia oleifera seeds. Three of fourteen successfully expressed in peak stage but not in initial stage. Seven of fourteen expressed regardless of developmental stages. Two of fourteen expressed in early peak stage and two of fourteen expressed in late peak stage. In conclusion, the alpha-linolenic acid metabolism regulational pathway in Camellia oleifera seeds was proposed, which revealed the regularity of the synthetic process of alpha-linolenic acid and the conversion process to other unsaturated fatty acid in developing Camellia oleifera seeds. The findings should provide the basic scientific support for further conventional and molecular-aided Camellia oleifera breeding.