MhIDA small peptides modulate the growth and development of roots in Malus hupehensis.

Key message: MhIDA small peptides promote apple root growth by enhancing auxin synthesis and cell wall remodeling gene expression, revealing a peptide-based strategy to improve root architecture. Although small peptides have been well documented as crucial regulators of plant growth and development, the molecular mechanisms underlying lateral root morphogenesis in Malus hupehensis remain poorly understood. In this research, exogenous application of 1 µM MhIDA-Like family peptides increased primary root (PR) length by 14.31-19.96% and lateral root (LR) number by 124.54-149.08%. MhIDA, predominant expression in the root tip and lateral root primordium, demonstrated the most substantial promoting effects on PR elongation, LR number and density when the treatment concentration reached 1 µM. Furthermore, similar effects were found in MhIDA-overexpression transgenic apple seedlings, with the number and density of transgenic LRs increase by 80.52 and 126.86%, respectively, compared with wild-type seedlings. More importantly, 1 µM MhIDA treatment induced significant hormonal alterations, with the content of auxin, salicylic acid and gibberellic acid increasing by 1.5-fold, 1.4-fold, and 2.1-fold, respectively, compared to control. The qRT-PCR results showed that MhIDA could induce the expression of auxin synthesis genes (MhTAA1 and MhYUCC1) that were up-regulated by about twofold, and the cell wall remodeling-related genes (MhEXP17, MhXTR6, MhPGAZAT and MhPGLR) were upregulated by about 2- to 4-fold after 1 µM MhIDA treatment, thereby regulating LR emergence and formation of Malus hupehensis. Overall, these findings suggested the MhIDA peptide can promote the growth and development of roots, laying the foundation for cultivating apple rootstocks with strong roots and higher resistance to abiotic stress.