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Background <p>Traditional cultivation of yam (<i>Dioscorea polystachya</i> Turcz.), a globally important tuber crop, is notoriously labor-intensive and inefficient. Directional cultivation (DC) is an innovative agronomic practice that utilizes physical constraints to guide tuber growth horizontally or obliquely within the shallow soil layer. While this technique overcomes the limitations of traditional cultivation and substantially increases tuber biomass, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Given that leaves function as the primary source organ providing assimilates for tuber bulking, we integrated physiological and transcriptomic analyses of source leaves to explore the regulatory network mediating the high-yield phenotype under DC.</p> Results <p>Our results demonstrate that DC significantly boosts tuber biomass without inducing stress characterized by a significant accumulation of soluble sugars. Leaf transcriptomic evidences reveal a tripartite transcriptional adjustment, including enhancing photosynthetic capacity, restricting glycolysis, and optimizing sucrose transport, which is consistent with the high-sugar phenotype in leaves. Concurrently, this carbon flux redirection exemplifies a potential “growth-defense trade-off”, where the phasic suppression of the carbon-consuming flavonoid biosynthesis pathway likely facilitates resource allocation towards growth. Furthermore, correlation analysis revealed that the expression profiles of genes governing these metabolic shifts are highly correlated with those of the endogenous hormone signaling network. This coordinated network is characterized by the upregulation of signaling pathways for growth-promoting hormones (auxin, cytokinin, gibberellin) during the peak tuber bulking stage (120 days after sowing).</p> Conclusions <p>Collectively, we propose a potential model of hormone-mediated reprogramming of source-leaf metabolism to support increased tuber yield under DC. This study provides novel insights into the regulatory networks underlying DC-induced biomass accumulation from the source-leaf perspective and offers valuable candidate targets for future yam improvement.</p>

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Leaf physiological and transcriptomic analyses provide insights into the regulatory network underlying high yield in yam under directional cultivation

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月11日

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  • Lin Jin,
  • Wen-Qi Guo,
  • De-Cai Liu,
  • Li Wang,
  • Lu Jiang,
  • Xiao-Yong Han,
  • Pei-Tong Zhang,
  • Jian-Mei Yin

摘要

Background

Traditional cultivation of yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turcz.), a globally important tuber crop, is notoriously labor-intensive and inefficient. Directional cultivation (DC) is an innovative agronomic practice that utilizes physical constraints to guide tuber growth horizontally or obliquely within the shallow soil layer. While this technique overcomes the limitations of traditional cultivation and substantially increases tuber biomass, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Given that leaves function as the primary source organ providing assimilates for tuber bulking, we integrated physiological and transcriptomic analyses of source leaves to explore the regulatory network mediating the high-yield phenotype under DC.

Results

Our results demonstrate that DC significantly boosts tuber biomass without inducing stress characterized by a significant accumulation of soluble sugars. Leaf transcriptomic evidences reveal a tripartite transcriptional adjustment, including enhancing photosynthetic capacity, restricting glycolysis, and optimizing sucrose transport, which is consistent with the high-sugar phenotype in leaves. Concurrently, this carbon flux redirection exemplifies a potential “growth-defense trade-off”, where the phasic suppression of the carbon-consuming flavonoid biosynthesis pathway likely facilitates resource allocation towards growth. Furthermore, correlation analysis revealed that the expression profiles of genes governing these metabolic shifts are highly correlated with those of the endogenous hormone signaling network. This coordinated network is characterized by the upregulation of signaling pathways for growth-promoting hormones (auxin, cytokinin, gibberellin) during the peak tuber bulking stage (120 days after sowing).

Conclusions

Collectively, we propose a potential model of hormone-mediated reprogramming of source-leaf metabolism to support increased tuber yield under DC. This study provides novel insights into the regulatory networks underlying DC-induced biomass accumulation from the source-leaf perspective and offers valuable candidate targets for future yam improvement.