The regulation of non-climacteric fruit ripening by the transcription factor NON-RIPENING (NOR) is poorly understood. Here, we identified that the NOR homolog in the non-climacteric fruit watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is located within the selective sweep and sweetness quantitative trait locus that was selected during domestication from landraces to cultivars. ClNOR knockout substantially delayed fruit ripening, and the fruits of the knockout plants had lower abscisic acid (ABA) levels, lighter colored flesh, and were less sweet compared to wild type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFruit ripening is a highly complicated process that is accompanied by the formation of fruit quality. In recent years, a series of studies have demonstrated post-transcriptional control play important roles in fruit ripening and fruit quality formation. Till now, the post-transcriptional mechanisms for watermelon fruit ripening have not been comprehensively studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Integr Plant Biol
October 2023
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) as non-climacteric fruit is domesticated from the ancestors with inedible fruits. We previously revealed that the abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway gene ClSnRK2.3 might influence watermelon fruit ripening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Cucurbitaceae (cucurbit) family consists of about 1,000 species in 95 genera, including many economically important and popular fruit and vegetable crops. During the past several years, reference genomes have been generated for >20 cucurbit species, and variome and transcriptome profiling data have been rapidly accumulated for cucurbits. To efficiently mine, analyze and disseminate these large-scale datasets, we have developed an updated version of Cucurbit Genomics Database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUbiquitination-mediated protein degradation plays important roles in ABA signal transduction and delivering responses to chloroplast stress signals in plants, but additional E3 ligases of protein ubiquitination remain to be identified to understand the complex signaling network. Here we reported that ZEITLUPE (ZTL), an F-box protein, negatively regulates abscisic acid (ABA) signaling during ABA-inhibited early seedling growth and ABA-induced stomatal closure in . Using molecular biology and biochemistry approaches, we demonstrated that ZTL interacts with and ubiquitinates its substrate, CHLH/ABAR (Mg-chelatase H subunit/putative ABA receptor), to modulate CHLH stability via the 26S proteasome pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe NAC transcription factor NONRIPENING (NOR) is a master regulator of climacteric fruit ripening. Melon (Cucumis melo L.) has climacteric and non-climacteric fruit ripening varieties and is an ideal model to study fruit ripening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFruit ripening is a highly complicated process, which is modulated by phytohormones, signal regulators and environmental factors playing in an intricate network that regulates ripening-related genes expression. Although transcriptomics is an effective tool to predict protein levels, protein abundances are also extensively affected by post-transcriptional and post-translational regulations. Here, we used RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics to study the comprehensive mRNA and protein expression changes during fruit development and ripening in watermelon, a non-climacteric fruit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe mutation of ClZISO identified in EMS-induced watermelon leads to photosensitive flesh in watermelon. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) has a colorful flesh that attracts consumers and benefits human health. We developed an ethyl-methanesulfonate mutation library in red-fleshed line '302' to create new flesh color lines and found a yellow-fleshed mutant which accumulated ζ-carotene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Cucurbitaceae is one of the most genetically diverse plant families in the world. Many of them are important vegetables or medicinal plants and are widely distributed worldwide. The rapid development of sequencing technologies and bioinformatic algorithms has enabled the generation of genome sequences of numerous important Cucurbitaceae species.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarotenoid pigments confer photoprotection and visual attraction and serve as precursors for many important signaling molecules. Herein, the orange-fruited phenotype of a tomato elite inbred line resulting from sharply reduced carotenoid levels and an increased β-carotene-to-lycopene ratio in fruit was shown to be controlled by a single recessive gene, oft3. BSA-Seq combined with fine mapping delimited the oft3 gene to a 71.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factors play important roles in fruit ripening and quality. The watermelon genome encodes 80 NAC genes, and 21 of these NAC genes are highly expressed in both the flesh and vascular tissues. Among these genes, ClNAC68 expression was significantly higher in flesh than in rind.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbscisic acid (ABA) is a critical regulator of seed development and germination. β-glucosidases (BGs) have been suggested to be contributors to increased ABA content because they catalyze the hydrolysis of ABA-glucose ester to release free ABA. However, whether BGs are involved in seed development is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrafting cultivation is implemented worldwide mainly to resist abiotic and biotic stresses and is an effective method to improve watermelon production. However, grafting may affect fruit development and quality. In our experiment, pumpkin-grafted (PG) watermelon fruits developed slower and the ripening period was extended compared to self-grafted (SG) fruits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow raffinose (Raf) family oligosaccharides, the major translocated sugars in the vascular bundle in cucurbits, are hydrolyzed and subsequently partitioned has not been fully elucidated. By performing reciprocal grafting of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) fruits to branch stems, we observed that Raf was hydrolyzed in the fruit of cultivar watermelons but was backlogged in the fruit of wild ancestor species. Through a genome-wide association study, the alkaline alpha-galactosidase ClAGA2 was identified as the key factor controlling stachyose and Raf hydrolysis, and it was determined to be specifically expressed in the vascular bundle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnloading sugar from sink phloem by transporters is complex and much remains to be understood about this phenomenon in the watermelon fruit. Here, we report a novel vacuolar sugar transporter (ClVST1) identified through map-based cloning and association study, whose expression in fruit phloem is associated with accumulation of sucrose (Suc) in watermelon fruit. ClVST1 knockout lines show decreased sugar content and total biomass, whereas overexpression of ClVST1 increases Suc content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRed-fleshed watermelons () that accumulate lycopene in their flesh cells have been selected and domesticated from their pale-fleshed ancestors. However, the molecular basis of this trait remains poorly understood. Using map-based cloning and transgenic analysis, we identified a lycopene β-cyclase () gene that controls the flesh color of watermelon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFruit characteristics of sweet watermelon are largely the result of human selection. Here we report an improved watermelon reference genome and whole-genome resequencing of 414 accessions representing all extant species in the Citrullus genus. Population genomic analyses reveal the evolutionary history of Citrullus, suggesting independent evolutions in Citrullus amarus and the lineage containing Citrullus lanatus and Citrullus mucosospermus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo understand sex determination in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), a spontaneous gynoecious watermelon mutant, XHBGM, was selected from the monoecious wild type XHB. Using map-based cloning, resequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis, a unique chromosome translocation between chromosome 2 and chromosome 3 was found in XHBGM. Based on the breakpoint location in chromosome 2, a putative C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor gene, ClWIP1 (gene ID Cla008537), an orthologue of the melon gynoecy gene CmWIP1, was disrupted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Cucurbitaceae family (cucurbit) includes several economically important crops, such as melon, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, squash and gourds. During the past several years, genomic and genetic data have been rapidly accumulated for cucurbits. To store, mine, analyze, integrate and disseminate these large-scale datasets and to provide a central portal for the cucurbit research and breeding community, we have developed the Cucurbit Genomics Database (CuGenDB; http://cucurbitgenomics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow sugar transporters regulate sugar accumulation in fruits is poorly understood and particularly so for species storing high-concentration Suc. Accumulation of soluble sugars in watermelon () fruit, a major quality trait, had been selected during domestication. Still, the molecular mechanisms controlling this quantitative trait are unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Cucurbita genus contains several economically important species in the Cucurbitaceae family. Here, we report high-quality genome sequences of C. maxima and C.
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