Files
Abstract
Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is grown throughout the world for its nutritious subterranean seeds. To advance our knowledge of this crop an RNA-seq experiment was carried out which compares three pod tissues over four reproductive stages in two genotypes. These two genotypes, Tifrunner and NC 3033, represent divergent phenotypes for pod filling of peanut. This phenotype presents as the space occupied by mature peanut seeds within the pod and is an important part of peanut yield. Computational analysis of differential gene expression unearthed a list of 294 genes differentially expressed across one or more factor levels. Further analysis of these expression differences using machine learning, quantitative trait loci comparisons, and ortholog searches of Arabidopsis thaliana resulted in a potential interaction network holding keys to increased control of the pod filling phenotype for use by peanut breeders. However, experimental validation of the candidate genes is recommended.