Gene Expression Analysis of Pandanus fascicularis Using Expressed Sequence Tags

The male flower of Pandanus fascicularis is economically important for its oil, which has good flavoring and therapeutic properties. However, molecular dissection for identification of genes associated for the flower's distinct odor has not been conducted. This led M.S. Vinod of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in India and other researchers to generate expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and construct a male flower-specific cDNA library for P. fascicularis.

The researchers performed DNA sequence analysis, and came up with 511 unigenes. Functional annotation resulted in 1952 gene ontology functional classification terms for 621 sequences. RNA gel blot analysis of 26 functionally distinct transcripts that may be engaged in flowering and volatile generation also determined differential expression profiles. Aside from revealing an overview of genes expressed, they also identified candidate genes with expression that are mainly controlled in the male inflorescence. The results of this initial study may be used for future metabolic engineering of floral volatiles in P. fascicularis.

The abstract of this study is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2010.01.008.