This research focused on three distinct sweet potato varieties and evaluated their starch, carotenoid, and anthocyanin levels at various developmental stages (70 days, 100 days, and 130 days).
More...This research focused on three distinct sweet potato varieties and evaluated their starch, carotenoid, and anthocyanin levels at various developmental stages (70 days, 100 days, and 130 days). The carotenoid and anthocyanin contents were compared, and RNA-seq and metabolomic analyses were performed. There were 9118 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 456 differentially regulated metabolites (DRMs) among the materials from the three periods. DEGs and DRMs were significantly enriched in both the starch and sucrose metabolism and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. The DEGs of the flavonoid pathway showed higher expression levels as the roots developed, with the highest expression occurring at 130 days. Thirteen flavonoid compounds were related to 4 genes, and IbCHI was the key gene related to 11 flavonoid compounds. The DEGs of the starch pathway showed lower expression levels as the roots developed, with the highest expression levels occurring at 70 days. IbUPG2 and IbglgA were able to regulate 8 key genes of metabolites related to the starch biosynthetic pathway. Based on WGCNA, a total of three gene modules were identified that were highly significantly related to the contents of starch, carotenoids and anthocyanins in sweet potato roots.
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