Transcriptome analysis revealed the effect of ethylene on grape buds and leaves

Ethylene is one of the important endogenous gaseous plant hormones that regulates various metabolic and developmental processes in plants. In this study, we found that ethylene could promote bud break and improve the antioxidant system in buds, whereas ethylene increased the chlorophyll and carotenoid degradation that led to the leaves senescence. RNA-seq was also used to analyse the grape leaves and buds treated with ethylene. A total of 7457 differentially expressed genes were identified in the two comparison samples. The annotation results showed that differential genes in GO and KEGG were mainly involved in plant hormone biosynthesis, signal transduction, photosynthesis, and secondary metabolism. We developed a possible model for ethylene controlling and senescence of the leaf and the bud dormancy based on the data produced in RNA-seq. It is evident that exogenous ethylene promoted leaf senescence by regulating various hormone signals, particularly ABA, and inhibiting photosynthesis. Compared with leaves, exogenous ethylene tended to promote photosynthesis in buds and secondary metabolism to regulate buds dormancy. This study will be helpful to clarify the possible action mechanism of ethylene regulating the development of leaves and buds.