Transcriptome Analysis of Rhododendron liliiflorum H. Lév. Flower Colour Differences

Rhododendron liliiflorum H. Lév., with white outer edges and yellow inner of petals, is an ornamental flower that originated in China. In this study, we analysed the (W) (Y) parts R. flowers by RNA sequencing. Then, unigene assembly, annotation, classification Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOGs) were performed. Gene ontology (GO) pathway enrichment analysis for unigenes also conducted. A total 219,221 transcripts 180,677 obtained from 48.52 Gb clean reads. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) indicated 2310 upregulated 3062 downregulated W vs. Y. Thirty-six these DEGs involved flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. Pathway showed significantly enriched phenylpropanoid, flavonoid, isoflavone biosynthesis. The expression dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DFR) chalcone synthase (CHS) may affect differences colour. findings on other related genes study will provide guidance exploring mechanism colour formation Rhododendron.