Differential gene expression and epigenetic analyses between striped and blushed skinned sports of ‘Fuji’ apple

Hye Jeong Cho, Gi Hoon Kim, Cheol Choi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

The ‘Fuji’ apple is a very popular cultivar because of its high inner quality, and the fruits have an attractive striped pattern. Interestingly, ‘Beni Shogun’, its color enhanced somatic mutant, exhibits a blushed skin, but little is known about the mechanisms that lead to this different skin patterning. In this study, ‘Fuji’ and ‘Beni Shogun’ apples were characterized at five developmental stages. The expression of pigment biosynthesis genes that are responsible for the ground and superimposed skin colors was evaluated. Our L* and a*/b* values data indicates that the blushed skin color of ‘Beni Shogun’ fruits is associated with more anthocyanin accumulation than in the striped skin color of ‘Fuji’ fruits. This can be explained especially by a higher level of MdMYB10 transcript in ‘Beni Shogun’, which activates expression of structural genes encoding enzymes of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. It is also seen the connection between reduced methylation of MR7 of seven randomly divided MdMYB10 promoter and increased fully redness in the ‘Beni Shogun’ skin.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108944
JournalScientia Horticulturae
Volume261
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Feb 2020

Keywords

  • Anthocyanin
  • Apple
  • Carotenoid
  • Gene expression
  • Methylation analyses
  • Skin pattern
  • Somatic variation

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