Li Yunduan, Shi Yanna, Li Yichen, Lu Jiao, Sun Yunfan, Zhang Yuanyuan, Chen Wenbo, Yang Xiaofang, Grierson Donald, Lang Zhaobo, Jiang Guihua, Chen Kunsong
College of Agriculture & Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Integrative Biology, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Hortic Res. 2023 Jul 11;10(8):uhad131. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhad131. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Recently, increasing evidence suggests that DNA methylation plays a crucial role in fruit ripening. However, the role of DNA methylation in regulating specific traits, such as flavor, remains unclear. Here, we report a role of DNA methylation in affecting furanone biosynthesis in strawberry. Strawberry quinone oxidoreductase (FaQR) is a key enzyme in furanone biosynthesis. There are four homologs in strawberry cultivar 'Yuexin', and one of them, , contributes ~50% of transcripts, indicating a major role of in furanone biosynthesis. Through characterization of levels of DNA methylation and transcript and furanone contents during fruit ripening and after the application of DNA methylation inhibitor, we found that the DNA methylation level of the promoter was negatively correlated with expression and furanone accumulation, suggesting that DNA methylation may be involved in furanone biosynthesis through adjusting expression, and responded to different temperatures consistently. In addition, transient expression of a gene in the RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) pathway, , and enrichment analysis of the 24-nucleotide siRNAs suggested that DNA methylation in the promoter is mediated by the RdDM pathway. Transient RNA interference (RNAi) of indicated that the demethylation pathway may be involved in regulating furanone accumulation. These findings provide new insights into the role of DNA methylation and demethylation in affecting flavor quality in strawberry during fruit ripening.
最近，越来越多的证据表明DNA甲基化在果实成熟过程中起着至关重要的作用。然而，DNA甲基化在调节特定性状（如风味）中的作用仍不清楚。在此，我们报道了DNA甲基化在影响草莓中呋喃酮生物合成方面的作用。草莓醌氧化还原酶（FaQR）是呋喃酮生物合成中的关键酶。在草莓品种‘越心’中有四个同源物，其中一个， ，贡献了约50%的 转录本，表明其在呋喃酮生物合成中起主要作用。通过对果实成熟期间以及施用DNA甲基化抑制剂后DNA甲基化水平、 转录本水平和呋喃酮含量的表征，我们发现 启动子的DNA甲基化水平与 表达和呋喃酮积累呈负相关，这表明DNA甲基化可能通过调节 表达参与呋喃酮生物合成，并始终如一地响应不同温度。此外，RNA指导的DNA甲基化（RdDM）途径中一个基因 的瞬时表达以及24核苷酸小干扰RNA（siRNAs）的富集分析表明， 启动子中的DNA甲基化由RdDM途径介导。 的瞬时RNA干扰（RNAi）表明去甲基化途径可能参与调节呋喃酮积累。这些发现为DNA甲基化和去甲基化在影响草莓果实成熟期间风味品质方面的作用提供了新的见解。
