Multi-omics analysis reveals membrane lipid metabolites as central hubs in watermelon flesh water-soaking disorder

IF 4.6 2区农林科学 Q1 HORTICULTURE

Scientia Horticulturae Pub Date : 2026-09-01 Epub Date: 2026-09-18 DOI:10.1016/j.scienta.2026.115177

Jun Wang, Xianli Wang, Can Kong, Xuanmin Dang, Huang He, Yuanfeng Zhan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Watermelon water-soaking disorder compromises fruit quality through poorly understood metabolic mechanisms. We integrated phenotypic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses comparing resistant ('07058′) and susceptible ('Yixuan') lines. 'Yixuan' developed severe water-soaking (36.31%) at 30 days after pollination, while '07058′ maintained a low water-soaking ratio (2.54%). Physiological traits were positively (pyruvic acid, cellulase, and malondialdehyde) or negatively (firmness and fructose) correlated with the water-soaking ratio. Comprehensive metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses identified 400 unique differentially accumulated metabolites and 9,995 differentially expressed genes across the three developmental stages. K-means clustering further prioritized 152 core metabolites and 2,209 core genes showing cultivar-specific temporal patterns. Correlation-based integrative analysis identified three membrane-associated metabolites (LPA, PA, and PolyP) as highly connected hubs associated with 13 candidate genes. Pathway enrichment revealed coordinated disruption across redox-mediated membrane degradation, sugar-osmotic dysregulation, and cell wall metabolism dysfunction. These findings support a model in which membrane lipid dysregulation represents a central metabolic feature associated with water-soaking susceptibility and progression. These metabolite and gene candidates provide potential targets for early quality assessment, functional validation, and future breeding strategies aimed at reducing harvest losses.

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多组学分析表明，膜脂代谢产物是西瓜果肉浸水障碍的中心枢纽

西瓜浸水失调症通过不清楚的代谢机制损害果实品质。我们整合了表型、代谢组学和转录组学分析，比较了抗性品系（‘07058’）和易感品系（‘Yixuan’）。授粉后30 d，‘亿选’的浸水率较高（36.31%），而‘07058’的浸水率较低（2.54%）。生理性状与浸水率呈正相关（丙酮酸、纤维素酶和丙二醛）或负相关（硬度和果糖）。综合代谢组学和转录组学分析确定了400个独特的差异积累代谢物和9,995个差异表达基因在三个发育阶段。K-means聚类进一步对152个核心代谢物和2209个核心基因进行了优先排序，显示出特定品种的时间模式。基于相关性的综合分析确定了三种膜相关代谢物（LPA， PA和PolyP）是与13个候选基因相关的高度连接的枢纽。途径富集揭示了氧化还原介导的膜降解、糖渗透失调和细胞壁代谢功能障碍之间的协调破坏。这些发现支持了一个模型，其中膜脂质失调代表了与水浸泡易感性和进展相关的中心代谢特征。这些代谢物和候选基因为早期质量评估、功能验证和未来旨在减少收获损失的育种策略提供了潜在的靶点。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Scientia Horticulturae 农林科学-园艺

CiteScore

8.60

自引率

4.70%

发文量

796

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： Scientia Horticulturae is an international journal publishing research related to horticultural crops. Articles in the journal deal with open or protected production of vegetables, fruits, edible fungi and ornamentals under temperate, subtropical and tropical conditions. Papers in related areas (biochemistry, micropropagation, soil science, plant breeding, plant physiology, phytopathology, etc.) are considered, if they contain information of direct significance to horticulture. Papers on the technical aspects of horticulture (engineering, crop processing, storage, transport etc.) are accepted for publication only if they relate directly to the living product. In the case of plantation crops, those yielding a product that may be used fresh (e.g. tropical vegetables, citrus, bananas, and other fruits) will be considered, while those papers describing the processing of the product (e.g. rubber, tobacco, and quinine) will not. The scope of the journal includes all horticultural crops but does not include speciality crops such as, medicinal crops or forestry crops, such as bamboo. Basic molecular studies without any direct application in horticulture will not be considered for this journal.