Ran Ezer, Ekaterina Manasherova, Amit Gur, Arthur A. Schaffer, Yaakov Tadmor, Hagai Cohen
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引用次数: 0
Main Conclusion
Microscopic analyses and chemical profiling demonstrate that the white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with the accumulation of n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters.
Abstract
Serving as an indicator of quality, the rind (or external) color of fruit directly affects consumer choice. A fruit’s color is influenced by factors such as the levels of pigments and deposited epicuticular waxes. The latter produces a white-grayish coating often referred to as “wax bloom”. Previous reports have suggested that some melon (Cucumis melo L.) accessions may produce wax blooms, where a dominant white rind color trait was genetically mapped to a major locus on chromosome 7 and suggested to be inherited as a single gene named Wi. We here provide the first direct evidence of the contribution of epicuticular waxes to the dominant white rind trait in melon fruit. Our light and electron microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) comparative analysis of melon accessions with white or green rinds reveals that the rind of melon fruit is rich in epicuticular waxes. These waxes are composed of various biochemical classes, including fatty acids, fatty alcohols, aldehydes, fatty amides, n-alkanes, tocopherols, triterpenoids, and wax esters. We show that the dominant white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with increased accumulation of n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters, which are linked with the deposition of crystal-like wax platelets on their surfaces. Together, this study broadens the understanding of natural variation in an important quality trait of melon fruit and promotes the future identification of the causative gene for the dominant white rind trait.
期刊介绍:
Planta publishes timely and substantial articles on all aspects of plant biology.
We welcome original research papers on any plant species. Areas of interest include biochemistry, bioenergy, biotechnology, cell biology, development, ecological and environmental physiology, growth, metabolism, morphogenesis, molecular biology, new methods, physiology, plant-microbe interactions, structural biology, and systems biology.