Brinley Alana R, Conner Patrick J, Yu Fahong, Sarkhosh Ali, Liu Tie
Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton, GA 31793, USA.
Hortic Res. 2024 Aug 9;11(10):uhae227. doi: 10.1093/hr/uhae227. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Muscadines face limitations to fresh market production due to high manual labor costs. Mechanical harvesting holds promise for reducing the costs associated with muscadine production but requires cultivars with easily detached fruit at maturity. This study aimed to determine muscadine fruit and pedicel characteristics influencing fruit detachment force (FDF) and to unravel the genes, hormones, and regulatory networks governing muscadine abscission. We characterized the FDF of muscadine fruit across 18 genotypes and at four developmental stages. Following this, we performed a transcriptome analysis using the mature pedicel tissue of two genotypes, a genotype with high FDF at maturity and a genotype with low FDF at maturity, to identify differentially expressed and uniquely expressed genes contributing to fruit detachment. We found that pedicel length, pedicel-fruit junction area, and fruit diameter positively correlated with FDF. This study also identified novel candidate genes, transcription factor families, and pathways associated with muscadine fruit abscission. These findings provide valuable knowledge on the progression of fruit abscission and insights for reducing FDF, particularly in developing machine-harvestable muscadine cultivars and fostering sustainability and efficiency in muscadine production.
由于人工劳动力成本高昂，慕斯卡德葡萄在鲜食市场生产上面临限制。机械采收有望降低与慕斯卡德葡萄生产相关的成本，但需要成熟时果实易于脱落的品种。本研究旨在确定影响果实脱落力（FDF）的慕斯卡德葡萄果实和果梗特征，并揭示控制慕斯卡德葡萄脱落的基因、激素和调控网络。我们对18个基因型的慕斯卡德葡萄果实在四个发育阶段的果实脱落力进行了表征。在此之后，我们使用两种基因型（一种成熟时果实脱落力高，另一种成熟时果实脱落力低）的成熟果梗组织进行了转录组分析，以鉴定导致果实脱落的差异表达基因和独特表达基因。我们发现果梗长度、果梗与果实连接处面积和果实直径与果实脱落力呈正相关。本研究还鉴定了与慕斯卡德葡萄果实脱落相关的新候选基因、转录因子家族和途径。这些发现为果实脱落的进程提供了有价值的知识，并为降低果实脱落力提供了见解，特别是在培育可机械采收的慕斯卡德葡萄品种以及提高慕斯卡德葡萄生产的可持续性和效率方面。
