Comparative Transcriptome Sequencing of Taro Corm Development With a Focus on the Starch and Sucrose Metabolism Pathway

Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is an important tuber crop and staple food. Taro corms have higher nutritional value and starch contents as compared to most of the other root/tuber crops. However, the growth and development of the taro rhizome have not been critically examined in terms of transcriptomic signatures in general or specific to carbohydrates (starch and sucrose) accumulation. In current study, we have conducted a comprehensive survey of transcripts in taro corms aged 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 months. In this context, we have employed a whole transcriptome sequencing approach for identification of mRNAs, CircRNAs, and miRNAs in corms and performed functional enrichment analysis of the screened differentially expressed RNAs. A total of 11,203 mRNAs, 245 CircRNAs, and 299 miRNAs were obtained from six developmental stages. The mRNAs included 139 DEGs associated with 24 important enzymes of starch and sucrose metabolism. The expression of genes encoding key enzymes of starch and sucrose metabolism pathway (GBSS, AGPase, UGPase, SP, SSS, βFRUCT and SuSy) demonstrated significant variations at the stage of 4 months (S4). A total of 191 CircRNAs were differentially expressed between the studied comparisons of growth stages and 99 of these were associated with those miRNA (or target genes) that were enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism pathway. We also identified 205 miRNAs including 46 miRNAs targeting DEGs enriched in starch and sucrose biosynthesis pathway. The results of current study provide valuable resources for future exploration of the molecular mechanisms involved in the starch properties of Taro.