BACKGROUND: Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) bitter acids are valuable metabolites for the brewing industry. They are biosynthesized and accumulate in glandular trichomes of the female inflorescence (hop cone). The content of alpha bitter acids, such as humulones, in hop cones can differentiate aromatic from bitter hop cultivars. These contents are subject to genetic and environmental control but significantly correlate with the number and size of glandular trichomes (lupulin glands). RESULTS: We evaluated the expression levels of 37 genes involved in bitter acid biosynthesis and morphological and developmental differentiation of glandular trichomes to identify key regulatory factors involved in bitter acid content differences. For bitter acid biosynthesis genes, upregulation of humulone synthase genes, which are important for the biosynthesis of alpha bitter acids in lupulin glands, could explain the higher accumulation of alpha bitter acids in bitter hops. Several transcription factors, including HlETC1, HlMYB61 and HlMYB5 from the MYB family, as well as HlGLABRA2, HlCYCB2-4, HlZFP8 and HlYABBY1, were also more highly expressed in the bitter hop cultivars; therefore, these factors may be important for the higher density of lupulin glands also seen in the bitter hop cultivars. CONCLUSIONS: Gene expression analyses enabled us to investigate the differences between aromatic and bitter hops. This study confirmed that the bitter acid content in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands) is dependent on the last step of alpha bitter acid biosynthesis and glandular trichome density.

• Klíčová slova
• Bitter acids, Differential gene expression, Glandular trichome development, Hop, Humulus lupulus, Lupulin gland,
• MeSH
• Humulus metabolismus   MeSH
• transkripční faktory metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• transkripční faktory MeSH

Viroids are small non-capsidated, single-stranded, covalently-closed circular noncoding RNA replicons of 239-401 nucleotides that exploit host factors for their replication, and some cause disease in several economically important crop plants, while others appear to be benign. The proposed mechanisms of viroid pathogenesis include direct interaction of the genomic viroid RNA with host factors and post-transcriptional or transcriptional gene silencing via viroid-derived small RNAs (vd-sRNAs) generated by the host defensive machinery. Humulus lupulus (hop) plants are hosts to several viroids among which Hop latent viroid (HLVd) and Citrus bark cracking viroid (CBCVd) are attractive model systems for the study of viroid-host interactions due to the symptomless infection of the former and severe symptoms induced by the latter in this indicator host. To better understand their interactions with hop plant, a comparative transcriptomic analysis based on RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to reveal the transcriptional alterations induced as a result of single HLVd and CBCVd infection in hop. Additionally, the effect of HLVd on the aggressiveness of CBCVd that underlies severe stunting in hop in a mixed infection was studied by transcriptomic analysis. Our analysis revealed that CBCVd infection resulted in dynamic changes in the activity of genes as compared to single HLVd infection and their mixed infection. The differentially expressed genes that are involved in defense, phytohormone signaling, photosynthesis and chloroplasts, RNA regulation, processing and binding; protein metabolism and modification; and other mechanisms were more modulated in the CBCVd infection of hop. Nevertheless, Gene Ontology (GO) classification and pathway enrichment analysis showed that the expression of genes involved in the proteolysis mechanism is more active in a mixed infection as compared to a single one, suggesting co-infecting viroids may result in interference with host factors more prominently. Collectively, our results provide a deep transcriptome of hop and insight into complex single HLVd, CBCVd, and their coinfection in hop-plant interactions.

• Klíčová slova
• Citrus bark cracking viroid, Hop latent viroid, Humulus lupulus, co-infection, differentially expressed genes, transcriptome profiling,
• MeSH
• Humulus genetika   virologie   MeSH
• nemoci rostlin genetika   virologie   MeSH
• transkriptom * MeSH
• viroidy patogenita   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.) produces several valuable secondary metabolites, such as prenylflavonoid, bitter acids, and essential oils. These compounds are biosynthesized in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands) endowed with pharmacological properties and widely implicated in the beer brewing industry. The present study is an attempt to generate exhaustive information of transcriptome dynamics and gene regulatory mechanisms involved in biosynthesis and regulation of these compounds, developmental changes including trichome development at three development stages, namely leaf, bract, and mature lupulin glands. Using high-throughput RNA-Seq technology, a total of 61.13, 50.01, and 20.18 Mb clean reads in the leaf, bract, and lupulin gland libraries, respectively, were obtained and assembled into 43,550 unigenes. The putative functions were assigned to 30,996 transcripts (71.17%) based on basic local alignment search tool similarity searches against public sequence databases, including GO, KEGG, NR, and COG families, which indicated that genes are principally involved in fundamental cellular and molecular functions, and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The expression levels of all unigenes were analyzed in leaf, bract, and lupulin glands tissues of hop. The expression profile of transcript encoding enzymes of BCAA metabolism, MEP, and shikimate pathway was most up-regulated in lupulin glands compared with leaves and bracts. Similarly, the expression levels of the transcription factors and structural genes that directly encode enzymes involved in xanthohumol, bitter acids, and terpenoids biosynthesis pathway were found to be significantly enhanced in lupulin glands, suggesting that production of these metabolites increases after the leaf development. In addition, numerous genes involved in primary metabolism, lipid metabolism, photosynthesis, generation of precursor metabolites/energy, protein modification, transporter activity, and cell wall component biogenesis were differentially regulated in three developmental stages, suggesting their involvement in the dynamics of the lupulin gland development. The identification of differentially regulated trichome-related genes provided a new foundation for molecular research on trichome development and differentiation in hop. In conclusion, the reported results provide directions for future functional genomics studies for genetic engineering or molecular breeding for augmentation of secondary metabolite content in hop.

• Klíčová slova
• Humulus lupulus, RNA sequencing, bitter acids, lupulin glands, prenylflavonoids, terpenoids, trichome,
• MeSH
• flavonoidy biosyntéza   chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• genová ontologie MeSH
• Humulus chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• listy rostlin genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• propiofenony chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• sekvenování transkriptomu MeSH
• terpeny chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• transkripční faktory metabolismus   MeSH
• transkriptom genetika   MeSH
• trichomy genetika   metabolismus   ultrastruktura   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• flavonoidy MeSH
• propiofenony MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny MeSH
• terpeny MeSH
• transkripční faktory MeSH
• xanthohumol MeSH Prohlížeč

Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is an important commercial crop known for the biosynthesis of valuable specialized secondary metabolites in glandular trichomes (lupulin glands), which are used for the brewing industry. To achieve burgeoning market demands is the essentiality of comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in hop. Over the past year, several studies using structural biology and functional genomics approaches have shown that Mediator (MED) serves as an integrative hub for RNAP II-mediated transcriptional regulation of various physiological and cellular processes, including involvement of MED5a and MED5b in hyperaccumulation of phenylpropanoid in A. thaliana. In the present work, an unprecedented attempt was made to generate Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant lines in hop using a CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system. The Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant lines showed reduced expression of structural genes of the flavonoid, humulone, and terpenoid biosynthetic pathways, which was more pronounced in the lupulin gland compared to leaf tissue and was consistent with their reduced accumulation. Phenotypic and anatomical observations revealed that Hlmed5a/med5b double loci mutant line exhibited robust growth, earlier flowering, earlier cone maturity, reduced cone size, variations in floral structure patterns, and distorted lupulin glands without any remarkable changes in leaf morphology, intensity of leaf color, and chlorophyll content. Comparative transcriptome analysis of leaf and lupulin gland tissues indicates that the expression of enzymatic genes related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis, phytohormone biosynthesis, floral organs, flowering time, and trichome development, including other genes related to starch and sucrose metabolism and defense mechanisms, were differentially modulated in the Hlmed5a/med5b lines. The combined results from functional and transcriptomic analyses illuminates the pivotal function of HlMED5a and HlMED5b in homeostasis of secondary meatbolites accumulation in hop.

• Klíčová slova
• Bitter acids, Chalcone synthase, Flavonoids, Humulus lupulus, Mediator complex, Transcription regulation, Transcriptome analysis,
• MeSH
• CRISPR-Cas systémy MeSH
• genomika MeSH
• Humulus * genetika   MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
• transkriptom MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: The hop plant (Humulus lupulus L.) is a valuable source of several secondary metabolites, such as flavonoids, bitter acids, and essential oils. These compounds are widely implicated in the beer brewing industry and are having potential biomedical applications. Several independent breeding programs around the world have been initiated to develop new cultivars with enriched lupulin and secondary metabolite contents but met with limited success due to several constraints. In the present work, a pioneering attempt has been made to overexpress master regulator binary transcription factor complex formed by HlWRKY1 and HlWDR1 using a plant expression vector to enhance the level of prenylflavonoid and bitter acid content in the hop. Subsequently, we performed transcriptional profiling using high-throughput RNA-Seq technology in leaves of resultant transformants and wild-type hop to gain in-depth information about the genome-wide functional changes induced by HlWRKY1 and HlWDR1 overexpression. RESULTS: The transgenic WW-lines exhibited an elevated expression of structural and regulatory genes involved in prenylflavonoid and bitter acid biosynthesis pathways. In addition, the comparative transcriptome analysis revealed a total of 522 transcripts involved in 30 pathways, including lipids and amino acids biosynthesis, primary carbon metabolism, phytohormone signaling and stress responses were differentially expressed in WW-transformants. It was apparent from the whole transcriptome sequencing that modulation of primary carbon metabolism and other pathways by HlWRKY1 and HlWDR1 overexpression resulted in enhanced substrate flux towards secondary metabolites pathway. The detailed analyses suggested that none of the pathways or genes, which have a detrimental effect on physiology, growth and development processes, were induced on a genome-wide scale in WW-transgenic lines. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results suggest that HlWRKY1 and HlWDR1 simultaneous overexpression positively regulates the prenylflavonoid and bitter acid biosynthesis pathways in the hop and thus these transgenes are presented as prospective candidates for achieving enhanced secondary metabolite content in the hop.

• Klíčová slova
• Bitter acids, Flavonoids, Genetic transformation, Humulus lupulus, Secondary metabolite, Transcription factors, Transcriptome analysis,
• MeSH
• anotace sekvence MeSH
• exprese genu MeSH
• geneticky modifikované rostliny MeSH
• genomika * MeSH
• Humulus genetika   MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny genetika   MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese * MeSH
• transkripční faktory genetika   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• rostlinné proteiny MeSH
• transkripční faktory MeSH

Hop (Humulus lupulus) biosynthesizes the highly economically valuable secondary metabolites, which include flavonoids, bitter acids, polyphenols and essential oils. These compounds have important pharmacological properties and are widely implicated in the brewing industry owing to bittering flavor, floral aroma and preservative activity. Our previous studies documented that ternary MYB-bHLH-WD40 (MBW) and binary WRKY1-WD40 (WW) protein complexes transcriptionally regulate the accumulation of bitter acid (BA) and prenylflavonoids (PF). In the present study, we investigated the regulatory functions of the R2R3-MYB repressor HlMYB7 transcription factor, which contains a conserved N-terminal domain along with the repressive motif EAR, in regulating the PF- and BA-biosynthetic pathway and their accumulation in hop. Constitutive expression of HlMYB7 resulted in transcriptional repression of structural genes involved in the terminal steps of biosynthesis of PF and BA, as well as stunted growth, delayed flowering, and reduced tolerance to viroid infection in hop. Furthermore, yeast two-hybrid and transient reporter assays revealed that HlMYB7 targets both PF and BA pathway genes and suppresses MBW and WW protein complexes. Heterologous expression of HlMYB7 leads to down-regulation of structural genes of flavonoid pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana, including a decrease in anthocyanin content in Nicotiana tabacum. The combined results from functional and transcriptomic analyses highlight the important role of HlMYB7 in fine-tuning and balancing the accumulation of secondary metabolites at the transcriptional level, thus offer a plausible target for metabolic engineering in hop.

• Klíčová slova
• Bitter acids, Chalcone synthase, Flavonoids, Humulus lupulus, R2R3 MYB, RNA sequencing,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis * genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• flavonoidy metabolismus   MeSH
• Humulus * genetika   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny metabolismus   MeSH
• transkripční faktory metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• flavonoidy MeSH
• rostlinné proteiny MeSH
• transkripční faktory MeSH

Molecular and biochemical studies have shown that gene contains single or combination of different cis-acting regulatory elements are actively controlling the transcriptional regulation of associated genes, downstream effects of these result in the modulation of various biological pathways such as biotic/abiotic stress responses, hormonal responses to growth and development processes and secondary metabolite production. Therefore, the identification of promoters and their cis-regulatory elements is one of intriguing area to study the dynamic complex regulatory network of genes activities by integrating computational, comparative, structural and functional genomics. Several bioinformatics servers or database have been established to predict the cis-acting elements present in the promoter region of target gene and their association with the expression profiles in the TFs. The aim of this study is to predict possible cis-acting regulatory elements that have putative role in the transcriptional regulation of a dynamic network of metabolite gene activities controlling prenylflavonoid and bitter acids biosynthesis in hop (Humulus lupulus). Recent release of hop draft genome enabled us to predict the possible cis-acting regulatory elements by extracting 2kbp of 5' regulatory regions of genes important for lupulin metabolome biosynthesis, using Plant CARE, PLACE and Genomatix Matinspector professional databases. The result reveals the plausible role of cis-acting regulatory elements in the regulation of gene expression primarily involved in lupulin metabolome biosynthesis including under various stress conditions.

• Klíčová slova
• Cis-acting elements, Gene regulation, Humulus lupulus, Transcriptional factor, secondary metabolites,
• MeSH
• Humulus genetika   MeSH
• promotorové oblasti (genetika) * MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin genetika   MeSH
• regulační elementy transkripční genetika   MeSH
• regulační oblasti nukleových kyselin genetika   MeSH
• výpočetní biologie MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

Verification of clonal identity of hop (Humulus lupulus L.) cultivars within breeding programs and germplasm collections is vital to conserving genetic resources. Accurate and economic DNA-based tools are needed in dioecious hop to confirm identity and parentage, neither of which can be reliably determined from morphological observations. In this study, we developed two fingerprinting sets for hop: a 9-SSR fingerprinting set containing high-core repeats that can be run in a single PCR reaction and a kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) assay of 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The SSR set contains a sex-linked primer pair, HI-AGA7, that was used to genotype 629 hop accessions from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR), the USDA Forage Seed and Cereal Research (FSCR), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) collections. The SSR set identified unique genotypes except for 89 sets of synonymous samples. These synonyms included: cultivars with different designations, the same cultivars from different sources, heat-treated clones, and clonal variants. Population structure analysis clustered accessions into wild North American (WNA) and cultivated groups. Diversity was slightly higher in the cultivated samples due to larger sample size. Parentage and sib-ship analyses were used to identify true-to-type cultivars. The HI-AGA7 marker generated two male- and nine female-specific alleles among the cultivated and WNA samples. The SSR and KASP fingerprinting sets were compared in 190 samples consisting of cultivated and WNA accession for their ability to confirm identity and assess diversity and population structure. The SSR fingerprinting set distinguished cultivars, selections and WNA accessions while the KASP assays were unable to distinguish the WNA samples and had lower diversity estimates than the SSR set. Both fingerprinting sets are valuable tools for identity confirmation and parentage analysis in hop for different purposes. The 9-SSR assay is cost efficient when genotyping a small number of wild and cultivated hop samples (<96) while the KASP assay is easy to interpret and cost efficient for genotyping a large number of cultivated samples (multiples of 96).

• MeSH
• alely MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• genetická variace MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• Humulus * genetika   MeSH
• mikrosatelitní repetice genetika   MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce MeSH
• šlechtění rostlin MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. MeSH

Among computationally predicted and experimentally validated plant miRNAs, several are conserved across species boundaries in the plant kingdom. In this study, a combined experimental-in silico computational based approach was adopted for the identification and characterization of miRNAs in Humulus lupulus (hop), which is widely cultivated for use by the brewing industry and apart from, used as a medicinal herb. A total of 22 miRNAs belonging to 17 miRNA families were identified in hop following comparative computational approach and EST-based homology search according to a series of filtering criteria. Selected miRNAs were validated by end-point PCR and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), confirmed the existence of conserved miRNAs in hop. Based on the characteristic that miRNAs exhibit perfect or nearly perfect complementarity with their targeted mRNA sequences, a total of 47 potential miRNA targets were identified in hop. Strikingly, the majority of predicted targets were belong to transcriptional factors which could regulate hop growth and development, including leaf, root and even cone development. Moreover, the identified miRNAs may also be involved in other cellular and metabolic processes, such as stress response, signal transduction, and other physiological processes. The cis-regulatory elements relevant to biotic and abiotic stress, plant hormone response, flavonoid biosynthesis were identified in the promoter regions of those miRNA genes. Overall, findings from this study will accelerate the way for further researches of miRNAs, their functions in hop and shows a path for the prediction and analysis of miRNAs to those species whose genomes are not available.

• Klíčová slova
• Comparative genomics, Expressed sequence tags, Humulus lupulus, Posttranscriptional gene regulation, microRNA,
• MeSH
• databáze genetické MeSH
• exprimované sekvenční adresy * MeSH
• genové regulační sítě genetika   MeSH
• Humulus genetika   MeSH
• mikro RNA genetika   MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce s reverzní transkripcí MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin genetika   MeSH
• rostlinné geny genetika   MeSH
• software * MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• mikro RNA MeSH

The female flower of hop (Humulus lupulus var. lupulus) is an essential ingredient that gives characteristic aroma, bitterness and durability/stability to beer. However, the molecular genetic basis for identifying DNA markers in hop for breeding and to study its domestication has been poorly established. Here, we provide draft genomes for two hop cultivars [cv. Saazer (SZ) and cv. Shinshu Wase (SW)] and a Japanese wild hop [H. lupulus var. cordifolius; also known as Karahanasou (KR)]. Sequencing and de novo assembly of genomic DNA from heterozygous SW plants generated scaffolds with a total size of 2.05 Gb, corresponding to approximately 80% of the estimated genome size of hop (2.57 Gb). The scaffolds contained 41,228 putative protein-encoding genes. The genome sequences for SZ and KR were constructed by aligning their short sequence reads to the SW reference genome and then replacing the nucleotides at single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites. De novo RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of SW revealed the developmental regulation of genes involved in specialized metabolic processes that impact taste and flavor in beer. Application of a novel bioinformatics tool, phylogenetic comparative RNA-Seq (PCP-Seq), which is based on read depth of genomic DNAs and RNAs, enabled the identification of genes related to the biosynthesis of aromas and flavors that are enriched in SW compared to KR. Our results not only suggest the significance of historical human selection process for enhancing aroma and bitterness biosyntheses in hop cultivars, but also serve as crucial information for breeding varieties with high quality and yield.

• Klíčová slova
• Genomics, Hop, Humulus, Specialized metabolism, Transcriptome,
• MeSH
• délka genomu MeSH
• dieta MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• genom rostlinný * MeSH
• Humulus genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• kvantitativní znak dědičný MeSH
• květy genetika   MeSH
• organely genetika   MeSH
• pivo * MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce s reverzní transkripcí MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u rostlin MeSH
• repetitivní sekvence nukleových kyselin genetika   MeSH
• rostlinné geny MeSH
• sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
• sekvenční analýza RNA MeSH
• stanovení celkové genové exprese MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH