A 2OGD multi-gene cluster encompasses functional and tissue specificity that direct furanocoumarin and pyranocoumarin biosynthesis in citrus.

Furanocoumarins (FCs) are plant defence compounds derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway via the coumarin umbelliferone that harbour some therapeutic benefits yet are the underlying cause of 'grapefruit-drug interactions' in humans. Most of the pathway genes have not been identified in citrus. We employed a genetic/Omics approach on citrus ancestral species and F1 populations of mandarin × grapefruit and mandarin × pummelo.

Promoter insertion leads to polyembryony in mango - a case of convergent evolution with citrus.

Sexual reproduction in plants is the main pathway for creating new genetic combinations in modern agriculture. In heterozygous plants, after the identification of a plant with desired traits, vegetative propagation (cloning) is the primary path to create genetically uniform plants. Another natural plant mechanism that creates genetically uniform plants (clones) is apomixis.

The Pomegranate Deciduous Trait Is Genetically Controlled by a - Gene.

The pomegranate ( L.) is a deciduous fruit tree that grows worldwide. However, there are variants, which stay green in mild winter conditions and are determined evergreen.

Phylogeny and disparate selection signatures suggest two genetically independent domestication events in pea (Pisum L.).

Domestication is considered a model of adaptation that can be used to draw conclusions about the modus operandi of selection in natural systems. Investigating domestication may give insights into how plants react to different intensities of human manipulation, which has direct implication for the continuing efforts of crop improvement. Therefore, scientists of various disciplines study domestication-related questions to understand the biological and cultural bases of the domestication process.

Prospects for the natural distribution of crop wild-relatives with limited adaptability: The case of the wild pea Pisum fulvum.

Plant breeders and conservationist depend on knowledge about the genetic variation of their species of interest. Pisum fulvum, a wild relative of domesticated pea, has attracted attention as a genetic resource for crop improvement, yet little information about its diversity in the wild has been published hitherto. We sampled 15 populations of P.

Fine Mapping of the "black" Peel Color in Pomegranate ( L.) Strongly Suggests That a Mutation in the () Gene Is Responsible for the Trait.

Anthocyanins are important dietary and health-promoting substances present in high quantities in the peel and arils of the pomegranate ( L.) fruit. Yet, there is a high variation in the content of anthocyanin among different pomegranate varieties.

The 'Tommy Atkins' mango genome reveals candidate genes for fruit quality.

Background: Mango, Mangifera indica L., an important tropical fruit crop, is grown for its sweet and aromatic fruits. Past improvement of this species has predominantly relied on chance seedlings derived from over 1000 cultivars in the Indian sub-continent with a large variation for fruit size, yield, biotic and abiotic stress resistance, and fruit quality among other traits.

Identification of potential post-ethylene events in the signaling cascade induced by stimuli of bud dormancy release in grapevine.

Ethylene signaling appears critical for grape bud dormancy release. We therefore focused on identification and characterization of potential downstream targets and events, assuming that they participate in the regulation of dormancy release. Because ethylene responding factors (ERF) are natural candidates for targets of ethylene signaling, we initially characterized the behavior of two VvERF-VIIs, which we identified within a gene set induced by dormancy release stimuli.

Limited divergent adaptation despite a substantial environmental cline in wild pea.

Isolation by environment (IBE) is a widespread phenomenon in nature. It is commonly expected that the degree of difference among environments is proportional to the level of divergence between populations in their respective environments. It is therefore assumed that a species' genetic diversity displays a pattern of IBE in the presence of a strong environmental cline if gene flow does not mitigate isolation.

Environmental and genetic determinants of amphicarpy in Pisum fulvum, a wild relative of domesticated pea.

Pisum fulvum is an annual legume native to Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan. In certain locations, P. fulvum individuals were documented to display a reproductive dimorphism - amphicarpy, with both above and below ground flowers and pods.

Genetic diversity of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) germplasm using pooled sequencing.

Background: Discovering a genome-wide set of avocado (Persea americana Mill.) single nucleotide polymorphisms and characterizing the diversity of germplasm collection is a powerful tool for breeding. However, discovery is a costly process, due to loss of loci that are proven to be non-informative when genotyping the germplasm.

Transient induction of a subset of ethylene biosynthesis genes is potentially involved in regulation of grapevine bud dormancy release.

Transient increases in ethylene biosynthesis, achieved by tight regulation of transcription of specific ACC oxidase and ACC synthase genes, play a role in activation of grapevine bud dormancy release. The molecular mechanisms regulating dormancy release in grapevine buds are as yet unclear. It has been hypothesized that its core involves perturbation of respiration which induces an interplay between ethylene and ABA metabolism that removes repression and allows regrowth.

Abscisic acid catabolism enhances dormancy release of grapevine buds.

The molecular mechanism regulating dormancy release in grapevine buds is as yet unclear. It was formerly proposed that dormancy is maintained by abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated repression of bud-meristem activity and that removal of this repression triggers dormancy release. It was also proposed that such removal of repression may be achieved via natural or artificial up-regulation of VvA8H-CYP707A4, which encodes ABA 8'-hydroxylase, and is the most highly expressed paralog in grapevine buds.

Distinct gibberellin functions during and after grapevine bud dormancy release.

The molecular mechanism regulating dormancy release in grapevine buds is as yet unclear. It has been hypothesized that (i) abscisic acid (ABA) represses bud-meristem activity; (ii) perturbation of respiration induces an interplay between ethylene and ABA metabolism, which leads to removal of repression; and (iii) gibberellin (GA)-mediated growth is resumed. The first two hypothesis have been formally supported.

Variation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit size and shape results from multiple components acting pre-anthesis and post-pollination.

Morphological, QTL, and gene expression analyses indicate variation in cucumber fruit size and shape results from orientation, timing, and extent of cell division and expansion, and suggest candidate gene factors. Variation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit size and shape is highly quantitative, implicating interplay of multiple components.

Genetic Map of Mango: A Tool for Mango Breeding.

Mango () is an economically and nutritionally important tropical/subtropical tree fruit crop. Most of the current commercial cultivars are selections rather than the products of breeding programs. To improve the efficiency of mango breeding, molecular markers have been used to create a consensus genetic map that identifies all 20 linkage groups in seven mapping populations.

ctsGE-clustering subgroups of expression data.

Summary: A pre-requisite to clustering noisy data, such as gene-expression data, is the filtering step. As an alternative to this step, the ctsGE R-package applies a sorting step in which all of the data are divided into small groups. The groups are divided according to how the time points are related to the time-series median.

Differential expression of cucumber RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 genes during antiviral defence and resistance.

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase 1 (RDR1) plays a crucial role in plant defence against viruses. In this study, it was observed that cucumber, Cucumis sativus, uniquely encodes a small gene family of four RDR1 genes. The cucumber RDR1 genes (CsRDR1a, CsRDR1b and duplicated CsRDR1c1/c2) shared 55%-60% homology in their encoded amino acid sequences.

Analysis of Microtubule-Associated-Proteins during IBA-Mediated Adventitious Root Induction Reveals KATANIN Dependent and Independent Alterations of Expression Patterns.

Adventitious roots (AR) are post embryonic lateral organs that differentiate from non-root tissues. The understanding of the molecular mechanism which underlies their differentiation is important because of their central role in vegetative plant propagation. Here it was studied how the expression of different microtubule (MT)-associated proteins (MAPs) is affected during AR induction, and whether expression differences are dependent on MT organization itself.

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) germplasm diversity based on single nucleotide polymorphisms derived from the transcriptome.

Background: Germplasm collections are an important source for plant breeding, especially in fruit trees which have a long duration of juvenile period. Thus, efforts have been made to study the diversity of fruit tree collections. Even though mango is an economically important crop, most of the studies on diversity in mango collections have been conducted with a small number of genetic markers.

QTL mapping in multiple populations and development stages reveals dynamic quantitative trait loci for fruit size in cucumbers of different market classes.

QTL analysis in multi-development stages with different QTL models identified 12 consensus QTLs underlying fruit elongation and radial growth presenting a dynamic view of genetic control of cucumber fruit development. Fruit size is an important quality trait in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) of different market classes.

Ultrahigh-density linkage map for cultivated cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) using a single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping array.

Genotyping arrays are tools for high-throughput genotyping, which is beneficial in constructing saturated genetic maps and therefore high-resolution mapping of complex traits. Since the report of the first cucumber genome draft, genetic maps have been constructed mainly based on simple-sequence repeats (SSRs) or on combinations of SSRs and sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP). In this study, we developed the first cucumber genotyping array consisting of 32,864 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Gene expression profiling in juvenile and mature cuttings of Eucalyptus grandis reveals the importance of microtubule remodeling during adventitious root formation.

Background: The ability to form adventitious roots (AR) is an economically important trait that is lost during the juvenile-to-mature phase change in woody plants. Auxin treatment, which generally promotes rooting in juvenile cuttings, is often ineffective when applied to mature cuttings. The molecular basis for this phenomenon in Eucalyptus grandis was addressed here.

The PH gene determines fruit acidity and contributes to the evolution of sweet melons.

Taste has been the subject of human selection in the evolution of agricultural crops, and acidity is one of the three major components of fleshy fruit taste, together with sugars and volatile flavour compounds. We identify a family of plant-specific genes with a major effect on fruit acidity by map-based cloning of C. melo PH gene (CmPH) from melon, Cucumis melo taking advantage of the novel natural genetic variation for both high and low fruit acidity in this species.

Characterization of viral siRNA populations in honey bee colony collapse disorder.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a special case of collapse of honey bee colonies, has resulted in significant losses for beekeepers. CCD-colonies show abundance of pathogens which suggests that they have a weakened immune system. Since honey bee viruses are major players in colony collapse and given the important role of viral RNA interference (RNAi) in combating viral infections we investigated if CCD-colonies elicit an RNAi response.