Male sterile and male fertile two-type lines are important in heterosis utilization and breeding in Tagetes erecta, but the genes and pathways involved in male sterility are poorly understood. To explore these topics, transcriptome data (by RNA-seq) and proteome data (by iTRAQ) were gathered from flower buds of the male sterile line ‘MS2-2’ and male fertile line ‘MF2-2’ and integrated for a better understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of male sterility in T. erecta. The RNA-seq procedure generated 285,139,740 clean reads and 63359 unigenes and 6640 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 4136 were downregulated and 2504 were upregulated in ‘MS2-2’. DEGs related to flower development, pollen development, pollen wall assembly, endogenous hormones and transcription factors were identified. The iTRAQ analysis identified 3950 proteins in total; 789 were differentially expressed proteins (381 upregulated, 408 downregulated), which were mainly annotated to the Ribosome, Carbon metabolism and Biosynthesis of amino acids pathways. An association analysis revealed strong correlation (r Pearson = 0.6019) between the transcriptomic and proteomic data, and 256 and 34 proteins showed the same and opposite expression patterns with regard to their transcripts, respectively. Pathways such as photosynthesis, fatty acid biosynthesis and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis which influence tapetum and pollen development in male sterile plants, were significantly enriched at the transcript and protein levels. Most genes involved in these pathways were downregulated in ‘MS2-2’. The low expression of these genes or functional loss of proteins could be associated with flower development, pollen development and related to changes in fertility in T. erecta. This study provided transcriptomic and proteomic information for T. erecta that could illuminate the mechanism of male sterility.

雄性不育和雄性可育两型系在万寿菊杂种优势利用和育种中具有重要意义，但对参与雄性不育的基因和途径了解甚少。为了探索这些主题，转录组数据（通过 RNA-seq）和蛋白质组数据（通过 iTRAQ）从雄性不育系“MS2-2”和雄性可育系“MF2-2”的花蕾中收集并整合以更好地理解勃起雄性不育的潜在分子机制. RNA-seq 程序生成了 285,139,740 个干净读数，并鉴定了 63359 个 unigenes 和 6640 个差异表达基因 (DEG)，其中 4136 个在“MS2-2”中下调，2504 个上调。鉴定了与花发育、花粉发育、花粉壁组装、内源激素和转录因子相关的DEG。iTRAQ 分析总共鉴定了 3950 种蛋白质；789个差异表达蛋白（381个上调，408个下调），主要注释为核糖体、碳代谢和氨基酸生物合成途径。关联分析揭示了转录组和蛋白质组数据之间的强相关性（r Pearson = 0.6019），并且 256 和 34 种蛋白质分别显示出与其转录本相同和相反的表达模式。影响雄性不育植物绒毡层和花粉发育的光合作用、脂肪酸生物合成和苯丙烷生物合成等途径在转录本和蛋白质水平上显着丰富。参与这些途径的大多数基因在“MS2-2”中被下调。这些基因的低表达或蛋白质的功能丧失可能与花发育、花粉发育有关，并与生育力的变化有关。T.直立。这项研究为直立毛虫提供了转录组学和蛋白质组学信息，可以阐明雄性不育的机制。