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Expression pattern of ABA metabolic and signalling genes during floral development and fruit set in sweet cherry

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Abstract

Abscisic acid plays a crucial role in the regulation of fruit development and ripening, however, its role in the floral development and the fruit set is still unclear. In the present study, the ABA accumulation and the expression patterns of genes related to ABA metabolism and signalling in sweet cherry were investigated. The results showed that ABA accumulation increased and peaked at stage V in ovary, at stage VI in stamen, and in young fruit it peaked at 7 days after full bloom. The expression pattern of ABA synthetase PaNCED1 was consistent with the changes of ABA accumulation. Among four ABA degradation enzymes PaCYP707As, PaCYP707A4 was highly expressed in ovary, PaCYP707A1 was mainly in stamen, and PaCYP707A2 was in young fruit, and their expressions were reversed to the trend of PaNCED1. With regard to ABA signalling genes, among three ABA receptors PaPYLs, PaPYL2 and PaPYL3 were high expression genes in ovary and in young fruit with similar expression patterns, while PaPYL3 was the high expression gene in stamen. Within six PaPP2Cs, PaPP2C1/2/3 were highly expressed in ovary and young fruit, while PaPP2C3/4 were mainly in stamen. The six PaSnRK2s showed different expression patterns: PaSnRK2.1/2.2/2.4 were highly expressed in ovary and young fruit, while PaSnRK2.1/2.3 were highly expressed in stamen. In situ hybridization results showed that PaPYL3, PaPP2C3 and PaSnRK2.4 were expressed in seed, pulp and fruit peel during fruit set. In conclusion, ABA and its signaling may play an important role in the regulation of floral development and fruit set.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid,

DAFB:

Days after full bloom,

NCED:

9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase,

CYP707A:

Cytochrome P450, family 707, subfamily A,

PYL:

Pyrabactin resistance like,

PP2C:

Type 2C protein phosphatase,

SnRK2:

Subfamily 2 of SNF1-related kinases,

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,

ISH:

In situ hybridization

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.: 31772270, 31572095) and the ISF-NSFC Joint Scientific Research Program (Grant No. 31661143046). Prof. Ping Leng and Associate Prof. Lusheng Zhang conceived and designed the whole experiment. Yushu Zhang and Yangwei Du carried out the whole experiment, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Juan Wang, Li Jiang, Wenbin Kai, Bin Liang, Xiawan Zhai, Yufei Sun, Heting Liu, Xiaoyun Wu and Jianjun Cheng provided assistances in the experimental operation.

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Author notes

  1. Yushu Zhang and Yangwei Du have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, PR China

    Ping Leng, Yushu Zhang, Yangwei Du, Juan Wang, Li Jiang, Wenbin Kai, Bin Liang, Xiawan Zhai, Heting Liu & Lusheng Zhang

  2. Department of Horticulture, Beijing Vocational College of Agriculture, Beijing, 102442, PR China

    Xiaoyun Wu & Jianjun Cheng

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, Robert H. Smith Institute of Plant Sciences and Genetics in Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 7610001, Rehovot, Israel

    Yufei Sun

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  1. Ping Leng
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Leng, P., Zhang, Y., Du, Y. et al. Expression pattern of ABA metabolic and signalling genes during floral development and fruit set in sweet cherry. Plant Growth Regul 84, 71–80 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0322-z

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