2023-04-23
Lately, the research team led by Proffesor Li Yingyue from the College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, published a paper entitled “HPLC-MS/MS-based and transcriptome analysis reveal the effects of ABA and MeJA on jujube ( Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) cracking” in Food Chemistry（Q1, IF=9.231）.
The fruit epidermis directly affects plant-animal or plant-microbial interactions and determines the ability to harvest and resist abiotic factors (Riglet, Gatti, & Moyroud, 2021), but fruit cracking alters the mechanical properties and integrity of the epidermis, resulting in water loss, infection with pathogens and loss of commercial value (Jiang et al., 2019, Knoche and Lang, 2017). Several factors lead to fruit cracking, such as fruit cuticle (Knoche et al., 2017), growth rate (Gine-Bordonaba, Echeverria, Ubach, Aguilo-Aguayo, Lopez, & Larrigaudiere, 2017), peel characteristics (Seo et al., 2022), and hormones (C. & A.I., 2006; Cao, Li, Sun, & Zhang, 2014; Freitas, Shackel, & Mitcham, 2011) among these, hormone regulation is a very important factor.
Fruit cracking is a physiological disease that occurs during the development of jujube, abscisic acid (ABA) and jasmonic acid (JA) mainly regulate the cell wall metabolic pathway and induce fruit cracking. Here, we used high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to detect phytohormone-related metabolites at different developmental stages in cracking-susceptible (CS-15) and cracking-resistant (CR-04) individuals of full-sibling hybrid offspring. The fruit of ‘Pingshunbenzao’ jujube was treated with ABA and MeJA at the white-ripening stage, and the 48-h fruit cracking index was significantly increased compared to that of CK(water). Furthermore, RNA-seq of semi-red stage fruits identified several differentially expressed genes, related to the cell wall, such as SBT1.7 (Contig21.0.484), EXPA (Contig12.0.7) and QRT3 (newGene_1935), and transcription factors(TFs). These results reveal the relationship between the levels of different hormones and fruit cracking, identify genes associated with fruit cracking, and provide new insights to solve the problem of fruit cracking through hormonal regulation.
The corresponding author of the paper is Professor Li Yingyue, and the first author is Liu Ningwei, a doctorial candidate from the College of Biological Sciences and Technology. Professor Pang Xiaoming and Associate Professor Bo Wenhao have also made contributions to the related research. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (32271925).
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136155
