Background: The tuberous root of sweetpotato is an important agricultural and biological organ. There are not sufficient transcriptomic and genomic data in public databases for understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the tuberous root formation and development. Thus, high throughput transcriptome sequencing is needed to generate enormous transcript sequences from sweetpotato root for gene discovery and molecular marker development.Results: In this study, more than 59 million sequencing reads were generated using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology.De novoassembly yielded 56,516 unigenes with an average length of 581 bp. Based on sequence similarity search with known proteins, a total of 35,051 (62.02%) genes were identified. Out of these annotated unigenes, 5,046 and 11,983 unigenes were assigned to gene ontology and clusters of orthologous group, respectively. Searching against the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes Pathway database (KEGG) indicated that 17,598 (31.14%) unigenes were mapped to 124 KEGG pathways, and 11,056 were assigned to metabolic pathways, which were well represented by carbohydrate metabolism and biosynthesis of secondary metabolite. In addition, 4,114 cDNA SSRs (cSSRs) were identified as potential molecular markers in our unigenes. One hundred pairs of PCR primers were designed and used for validation of the amplification and assessment of the polymorphism in genomic DNA pools. The result revealed that 92 primer pairs were successfully amplified in initial screening tests.Conclusion: This study generated a substantial fraction of sweetpotato transcript sequences, which can be used to discover novel genes associated with tuberous root formation and development and will also make it possible to construct high density microarrays for further characterization of gene expression profiles during these processes. Thousands of cSSR markers identified in the present study can enrich molecular markers and will facilitate marker-assisted selection in sweetpotato breeding. Overall, these sequences and markers will provide valuable resources for the sweetpotato community. Additionally, these results also suggested that transcriptome analysis based on Illumina paired-end sequencing is a powerful tool for gene discovery and molecular marker development for non-model species, especially those with large and complex genome.

Currently there exists a limited availability of genetic marker resources in sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), which is hindering genetic research in this species. It is necessary to develop more molecular markers for potential use in sweetpotato genetic research. With the newly developed next generation sequencing technology, large amount of transcribed sequences of sweetpotato have been generated and are available for identifying SSR markers by data mining.

Fusarium root and stem rot in sweetpotato are prevalent in the main sweetpotato-growing areas in China, and fungal isolation, morphological characteristics, and molecular phylogenetic analysis of the disease causal agent ( F. solani-melongenae isolate CRI 24-3) were systematically studied. The genome sequence of F. solani-melongenae isolates CRI 24-3 was first reported, which should provide a basis for genome assembly of other closely related Fusarium species.

The tuberous root of sweetpotato is undisputedly an important organ from agronomic and biological perspectives. Little is known regarding the regulatory networks programming tuberous root formation and development. Here, as a first step toward understanding these networks, we analyzed and characterized the genome-wide transcriptional profiling and dynamics of sweetpotato root in seven distinct developmental stages using a customized microarray containing 39,724 genes. Analysis of these genes identified temporal programs of gene expression, including hundreds of transcription factor (TF) genes. We found that most genes active in roots were shared across all developmental stages, although significant quantitative changes in gene abundance were observed for 5,368 (including 435 TFs) genes. Clustering analysis of these differentially expressed genes pointed out six distinct expression patterns during root development. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis revealed that genes involved in different processes were enriched at specific stages of root development. In contrast with the large number of shared expressed genes in root development, each stage or period of root development has only a small number of specific genes. In total, 712 (including 27 TFs) and 1,840 (including 115 TFs) genes were identified as root-stage and root-period specific, respectively at the level of microarray. Several of the specific TF genes are known regulators of root development, including DA1-related protein, SHORT-ROOT and BEL1-like. The remaining TFs with unknown roles would also play critical regulatory roles during sweetpotato tuberous root formation and development. The results generated in this study provided spatiotemporal patterns of root gene expression in support of future efforts for understanding the underlying molecular mechanism that control sweetpotato yield and quality.

Background: China is the largest producer of sweet potato in the world, accounting for 57.0% of the global output. Germplasm resources are the basis for promoting innovations in the seed industry and ensuring food security. Individual and accurate identification of sweet potato germplasm is an important part of conservation and efficient utilization. Results: In this study, nine pairs of simple sequence repeat molecular markers and 16 morphological markers were used to construct genetic fingerprints for sweet potato individual identification. Combined with basic information, typical phenotypic photographs, genotype peak graphs, and a two-dimensional code for detection and identification were generated. Finally, a genetic fingerprint database containing 1021 sweet potato germplasm resources in the “National Germplasm Guangzhou Sweet Potato Nursery Genebank in China” was constructed. Genetic diversity analysis of the 1021 sweet potato genotypes using the nine pairs of simple sequence repeat markers revealed a narrow genetic variation range of Chinese native sweet potato germplasm resources, and Chinese germplasm was close to that from Japan and the United States, far from that from the Philippines and Thailand, and the furthest from that from Peru. Sweet potato germplasm resources from Peru had the richest genetic diversity, supporting the view that Peru is the center of origin and domestication of sweet potato varieties. Conclusions: Overall, this study provides scientific guidance for the conservation, identification, and utilization of sweet potato germplasm resources and offers a reference to facilitate the discovery of important genes to boost sweet potato breeding.

Postharvest disease is an important limiting factor for sweetpotato production. Recently, a new green mold disease was found in sweetpotato storage roots. To investigate the mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of the disease, the pathogen was isolated and identified based on morphological and molecular features, and its characteristics were further analyzed by pathogenic and antagonistic evaluations. The results showed that the isolated pathogen (CRI-Ta1) was identified as Trichoderma asperellum based on the similar growth and morphological features with Trichoderma spp., 99% homology of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence, and membership to the same phylogenetic group with the model strain of T. asperellum (CBS 433.97). The pathogenic analysis revealed that CRI-Ta1 could cause green mold disease through wound infection on the storage roots and the strains reisolated from infected storage roots could cause disease in different sweetpotato varieties, which was fulfilled in Koch’s postulate. Moreover, CRI-Ta1 could also infect other common crop species, including chestnut, carrot, apple, pear, and others. It indicated that CRI-Ta1 was the pathogen to the storage roots of sweetpotato and had a wide host range. Additionally, in vitro antagonistic evaluation showed that CRI-Ta1 effectively inhibited the growth of common sweetpotato pathogens, including Fusarium solani and Rhizopus nigricans. However, further research is needed on the potential of CRI-Ta1 to control sweetpotato diseases in vivo. Collectively, our findings provided valuable insights into the characteristics of the T. asperellum CRI-Ta1 in sweetpotato and would be helpful to the prevention and control of sweetpotato green mold disease.