Research: FANG and COLLEAGUES,

Listed in Issue 271

Abstract

FANG and COLLEAGUES, 1. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19A Yuquanlu, Beijing 100049, China; 2. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Sino-African Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; 3. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; 4. Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02184, USA; 5. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specialty Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China; Sino-African Joint Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China. yphan@wbgcas.cn studied at the molecular level the expression levels of three genes controlling Ascorbic Acid (AsA) content in cultivated and wild apples.

Background

Methodology

Ascorbic acid (AsA) content in mature fruits of 457 apple accessions were measured, and a great variation in AsA concentration was detected.

Results

Wild fruits showed significantly higher level of AsA than cultivated fruits. Fruit AsA content was positively correlated with malic acid content, but negatively correlated with fruit weight and soluble solid content. Thus, the difference in AsA content between the wild and cultivated fruits could be attributed to an indirect consequence of human selection for larger fruit size, less acidity, and increased sweetness during apple domestication. Additionally, AsA concentration was extremely high in fruit at the juvenile stage, but dramatically decreased at the expanding and mature stages. The expression levels of three genes controlling AsA accumulation, MdGGP1, MdDHAR3-3, and MdNAT7-2, were significantly negatively correlated with AsA contents in fruits, suggesting a feedback regulation mechanism in AsA-related gene expression.

Conclusion

Our results could be helpful for future apple breeding.

References

Fang T1, Zhen Q1, Liao L2, Owiti A1, Zhao L3, Korban SS4, Han Y5. Variation of ascorbic acid concentration in fruits of cultivated and wild apples. Food Chem. 225:132-137. Jun 15 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.01.014. Epub Jan 5 2017

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