Transcriptional Dynamics and Candidate Genes Involved in Pod Maturation of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Gómez Martín, Cristina Lebrón Aguilar, Ricardo Hackenberg, Michael Oliver, José Luis Pod maturation Transcription factors Photosynthesis Metabolism Phaseolus vulgaris The authors want to thank the research facilities provided by the Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario (CeiA3). Pod maturation of common bean relies upon complex gene expression changes, which in turn are crucial for seed formation and dispersal. Hence, dissecting the transcriptional regulation of pod maturation would be of great significance for breeding programs. In this study, a comprehensive characterization of expression changes has been performed in two common bean cultivars (ancient and modern) by analyzing the transcriptomes of five developmental pod stages, from fruit setting to maturation. RNA-seq analysis allowed for the identification of key genes shared by both accessions, which in turn were homologous to known Arabidopsis maturation genes and furthermore showed a similar expression pattern along the maturation process. Gene- expression changes suggested a role in promoting an accelerated breakdown of photosynthetic and ribosomal machinery associated with chlorophyll degradation and early activation of alpha-linolenic acid metabolism. A further study of transcription factors and their DNA binding sites revealed three candidate genes whose functions may play a dominant role in regulating pod maturation. Altogether, this research identifies the first maturation gene set reported in common bean so far and contributes to a better understanding of the dynamic mechanisms of pod maturation, providing potentially useful information for genomic-assisted breeding of common bean yield and pod quality attributes. 2020-07-06T09:42:10Z 2020-07-06T09:42:10Z 2020-04 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Gómez-Martín, C., Capel, C., González, A. M., Lebrón, R., Yuste-Lisbona, F. J., Hackenberg, M., ... & Lozano, R. (2020). Transcriptional Dynamics and Candidate Genes Involved in Pod Maturation of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Plants, 9(4), 545. [doi:10.3390/plants9040545] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62878 10.3390/plants9040545 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI