{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:18:32Z","timestamp":1785421112877,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784592000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Guizhou Provincial Basic Research Program","award":["Qiankehejichu ZK [2022]Yiban525"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Qiankehejichu ZK [2022]Yiban525"]}]},{"name":"Specialized Fund for the Doctoral of Kaili University","award":["BS202104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BS202104"]}]},{"award":["BS202104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BS202104"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02hzqbc55","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004001","name":"Guizhou High-Level Innovative Talent Cultivation Project","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Qian Qian Ceng Talent [2024] 202205"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Qian Qian Ceng Talent [2024] 202205"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Provincial Famous Teacher Yang Qin studio","award":["MSGZS-SJ-2024002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MSGZS-SJ-2024002"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004001","name":"Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Projects","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["QKHJC QN [2025]248"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["QKHJC QN [2025]248"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Guizhou Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding for Characteristic Horticultural Crops","award":["Qiankehepingtai ZSYS [2025]027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Qiankehepingtai ZSYS [2025]027"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Genes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Flower bud morphogenesis is a critical developmental phase during which blueberry transitions from vegetative to reproductive growth, yet the transcriptome dynamics and regulatory networks within buds during this process have not been systematically characterized. Methods: Terminal buds of the rabbiteye blueberry \u2018Brightwell\u2019 were sampled at six time points spanning from summer shoot cessation to bud swelling and dormancy entry. RNA sequencing, trend clustering, and Pearson correlation network analyses were performed to identify potentially important genes and regulatory relationships. Results: A total of 26,302 differentially expressed genes were identified, with a major transcriptomic shift at week 15. From four major expression trends, 1050 candidate genes were selected, including 176 flowering-related genes, 770 transcription factors, and 277 hormone-related genes. Photoperiod and vernalization pathway genes (COLs, VRN1, etc.) were predominantly down-regulated, whereas age pathway genes (SPLs) and MADS-box flower development genes (FULs, AP3, PI, and SEP2, etc.) were up-regulated. The floral integrators FT and SOC1 exhibited opposite expression dynamics: SOC1 was highly expressed during the early-to-mid stage, whereas FT peaked at the late stage, with the two showing opposing co-expression and correlation patterns. This suggests stage-specific divergence between the two integrators in coordinating flower bud differentiation and dormancy entry. Multiple hormone pathways (IAA, BR, JA, and SA, etc.) converged independently onto floral regulatory hubs through their biosynthesis\/metabolism and signal transduction genes, with numerous transcription factors also involved. Conclusions: These findings provide a comprehensive view of bud transcriptome dynamics and propose a molecular regulatory framework integrating flowering signals, hormones, and transcriptional cascades, offering a theoretical foundation and gene resources for blueberry breeding.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/genes17070837","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T16:16:39Z","timestamp":1784650599000},"page":"837","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Transcriptome Dynamics of Terminal Buds During Flower Bud Morphogenesis in Blueberry"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5717-7029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xingyu","family":"Lu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Famous Teacher Yang Qin Studio\/Guizhou Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding for Characteristic Horticultural Crops, College of Life and Health Science, Kaili University, Kaili 556011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dongyu","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yinyan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yalan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Famous Teacher Yang Qin Studio\/Guizhou Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding for Characteristic Horticultural Crops, College of Life and Health Science, Kaili University, Kaili 556011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qin","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Famous Teacher Yang Qin Studio\/Guizhou Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding for Characteristic Horticultural Crops, College of Life and Health Science, Kaili University, Kaili 556011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0013-1444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Biyan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109890","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijfoodmicro.2022.109890","article-title":"Blueberry fruit valorization and valuable constituents: A review","volume":"381","author":"Duan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. 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