TY  - EJOU
AU  - Li, Yingbo 
AU  - Zong, Yingjie 
AU  - Tao, Yulu 
AU  - Zhang, Wenqi 
AU  - Wang, Xiang 
AU  - Gao, Runhong 
AU  - Zhou, Longhua 
AU  - Xu, Hongwei 
AU  - Liu, Chenghong 

TI  - RNA-Seq Analysis of Quinoa Varieties with Different β-Carotene Contents Reveals Genes Related to Carotenoid Biosynthesis
T2  - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany

PY  - 
VL  - 
IS  - 
SN  - 1851-5657

AB  - Quinoa is a nutrient-enriched pseudocereal with excellent edible value, and its leaves contain abundant β-carotene, which serves as an important criterion for assessing leaf nutritional quality. However, the molecular regulatory pathway of β-carotene biosynthesis in quinoa remains largely unclear. To explore the molecular mechanism of β-carotene accumulation in quinoa leaves, we screened 196 quinoa resources and selected two high β-carotene germplasms (Cq39, Cq138) and two low β-carotene germplasms (Cq35, Cq92) for comparative transcriptome sequencing. Transcriptome profiling revealed divergent transcript profiles among the four quinoa germplasms. KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis showed that carotenoid biosynthesis pathway was significantly enriched among the downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in both Cq39 vs. Cq35 and Cq138 vs. Cq35 comparisons. Expression analysis revealed that core genes involved in carotenoid biosynthesis were relatively stable between contrasting germplasms. In contrast, one gene for carotenoid degradation (<i>CCD4</i>) and two genes associated with ABA metabolic shunt (<i>NCEDs</i>) were downregulated in high-β-carotene germplasms. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) further verified the expression trends of these candidate genes. Collectively, the identified DEGs provide preliminary insights into the potential regulatory mechanism of β-carotene accumulation in quinoa leaves. This study describes the transcriptional characteristics of carotenoid metabolism-related genes and offers valuable candidate gene resources for future nutritional quality improvement of quinoa.
KW  - Quinoa; β-carotene; transcriptomic; gene

DO  - 10.32604/phyton.2026.087573