Transcriptional Responses to Fire in Three Savanna Grass Species: Candidate Pathways for Fire-Stimulated Flowering
- 1Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- 2School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
- 3Bioinformatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Abstract
Aristida beyrichiana (wiregrass) is a grass species in the southeastern U.S. that exhibits pronounced fire-stimulated flowering, an adaptive trait in fire-prone ecosystems. Although fire-stimulated flowering has been well documented morphologically in this species, its molecular basis remains largely unknown. To investigate species-specific drivers of this adaptation, we performed comparative transcriptomic analyses under natural field conditions, before and approximately seven weeks after a prescribed fire, on wiregrass and two other grass species, Aristida spiciformis (bottlebrush threeawn) and Sporobolus junceus (pineywoods dropseed), which are not known to rely on fire to induce flowering. All species showed upregulation of conserved stress-related genes after fire, yet wiregrass exhibited a more focused transcriptional response. Notably, genes involved in nitrogen remobilization (ASN1, GDH2) and carbohydrate metabolism (SUS4, TPS10, DPE2) were uniquely upregulated in wiregrass, suggesting candidate metabolic adaptations that may support rapid post-fire regrowth and flowering. We also detected non-coding RNAs among the differentially expressed genes in wiregrass, pointing to a possible additional layer of regulation in fire-induced responses. Collectively, these results provide new transcriptomic insight into post-fire responses in wiregrass and identify candidate genes and regulatory pathways that require functional validation; because the observed expression differences integrate fire-induced, developmental and seasonal effects, they should not be interpreted as direct fire-specific responses.
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BibTeX
@article{ghimire2026transcriptional,
title = {{Transcriptional Responses to Fire in Three Savanna Grass Species: Candidate Pathways for Fire-Stimulated Flowering}},
author = {Utsab Ghimire and Jennifer M. Fill and Fahong Yu and Raelene M. Crandall and Liu Tie},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27219590},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9590},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Transcriptional Responses to Fire in Three Savanna Grass Species: Candidate Pathways for Fire-Stimulated Flowering
AU - Utsab Ghimire
AU - Jennifer M. Fill
AU - Fahong Yu
AU - Raelene M. Crandall
AU - Liu Tie
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27219590
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/21/9590
AB - Aristida beyrichiana (wiregrass) is a grass species in the southeastern U.S. that exhibits pronounced fire-stimulated flowering, an adaptive trait in fire-prone ecosystems. Although fire-stimulated flowering has been well documented morphologically in this species, its molecular basis remains largely unknown. To investigate species-specific drivers of this adaptation, we performed comparative transcriptomic analyses under natural field conditions, before and approximately seven weeks after a prescribed fire, on wiregrass and two other grass species, Aristida spiciformis (bottlebrush threeawn) and Sporobolus junceus (pineywoods dropseed), which are not known to rely on fire to induce flowering. All species showed upregulation of conserved stress-related genes after fire, yet wiregrass exhibited a more focused transcriptional response. Notably, genes involved in nitrogen remobilization (ASN1, GDH2) and carbohydrate metabolism (SUS4, TPS10, DPE2) were uniquely upregulated in wiregrass, suggesting candidate metabolic adaptations that may support rapid post-fire regrowth and flowering. We also detected non-coding RNAs among the differentially expressed genes in wiregrass, pointing to a possible additional layer of regulation in fire-induced responses. Collectively, these results provide new transcriptomic insight into post-fire responses in wiregrass and identify candidate genes and regulatory pathways that require functional validation; because the observed expression differences integrate fire-induced, developmental and seasonal effects, they should not be interpreted as direct fire-specific responses.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -