Name |
: |
Dr Xu Pei |
Designation |
: |
Research Fellow,
Institute of Vegetables
Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural
Sciences
China |
|
Dr. Pei Xu, a professor and cowpea/bottle gourd breeder at
Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Hangzhou, received his
PhD from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, in 2008. In 2010
and 2012, he worked as a visiting scientist at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem and UC-Riverside, respectively. He is currently an
executive council member of the Young Section of the Chinese Society
for Horticultural Sciences and a member of the Chinese Society for
Molecular Horticultural Breeding. He has also served as an academic
editor for the Indian-based international journal “Legume Research”
since 2013.Prof. Xu was elected to the prestigious “National Program
for the Support of Top-Notch Young Professionals” in 2015.
Abstract:
Orphan genes (OGs) are genes that are restricted to a single
species or a particular taxonomic group. So far, little is known
about functions of OGs in domesticated crops. Here, we report our
findings on OG-environmental adaptation relationships in cowpea
(Vignaunguiculata). We identified 578 expressed cowpea OGs, of which
73.2% were predicted to be non-coding. Transcriptomic analyses
revealed a strikingly high rate of OGs that were drought-inducible
in roots only, as compared with conserved genes. Co-expression
analysis further revealed the possible involvement of OGs in known
stress response pathways. Over-expression of UP12_8740, a
drought-inducible OG, conferred enhanced tolerance to osmotic
stresses and soil drought. By combining Capture-Seq and
fluorescence-based Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP), we
efficiently genotyped SNPs on OGs across a 223-line cowpea germplasm
collection. Population genomic parameters including PIC, He, Pi and
Tajima’s D statistics, calculated based on these SNPs, showed
distinct signatures between the grain- and vegetable-type
subpopulations of cowpea. This work reinforces that OGs are a
valuable resource for identifying new genes related to
species-characteristic environmental adaptations, and fosters a new
insight that artificial selections on OGs might have contributed to
balancing the adaptive and agronomical traits in domesticated crops
in various eco-climatic
conditions.