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Ιntra-species grafting induces epigenetic and metabolic changes accompanied by alterations in fruit size and shape of Cucurbita pepo L.

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Abstract

To further understand the impact of grafting on fruit characteristics and to comprehend the mechanisms involved in graft-induced changes we studied homo- and hetero- grafted Cucurbita pepo cultivars (cv.) that vary in fruit size and shape. C. pepo cv. ‘Munchkin’ and cv. ‘Big Moose’ as well as cv. ‘Round green’ and cv. ‘Princess’ were homo-grafted and reciprocally hetero-grafted. The results show significant changes in fruit size when ‘Big Moose’ was grafted onto ‘Munchkin’ rootstocks in comparison to homo-grafted controls. Statistically significant changes were also observed in fruit shape when cv. ‘Princess’ was grafted on cv. ‘Round green’. This is the first report of such phenotypic changes after intra-species/inter-cultivar grafting in Cucurbitaceae. Additionally, we found significant changes in (i) secondary metabolite profile, (ii) global DNA methylation pattern and (iii) miRNA expression patterns in grafted scions and (iv) DNA methylation on graft-induced phenotypic changes in grafted plants. Our results contribute to further understanding graft-induced effects on fruit morphology in intra-species grafting. Furthermore, our results pave the way for understanding the role of phenolic metabolites and epigenetic molecular mechanisms on the phenotypic changes recorded.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Aliki Xanthopoulou, Athanasios Tsaftaris & Irini Nianiou-Obeidat

  2. Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER, 57001, Thermi, Greece

    Aphrodite Tsaballa, Ioannis Ganopoulos, Apostolos Kalivas & Eirini Sarrou

  3. Department of Viticulture, Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER, Lykovrysi, 14123, Athens, Greece

    Aliki Kapazoglou

  4. Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Evangelia Avramidou & Filippos A. Aravanopoulos

  5. Institute of Applied Biosciences, CERTH, 570 01, Thermi, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Theodoros Moysiadis & Panagiotis Madesis

  6. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand

    Maslin Osathanunkul

  7. Center of Excellence in Bioresources for Agriculture, Industry and Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Maslin Osathanunkul

  8. Hellenic Agricultural Organization-DEMETER, Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticulture, 71003, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Andreas G. Doulis

  9. Perrotis College, American Farm School, 57001, Thessaloníki, Greece

    Athanasios Tsaftaris

  10. Department of Food Quality and Nutrition Department, IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), Via E. Mach 1, 38010, San Michele all’ Adige, TN, Italy

    Stefan Martens

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  1. Aliki Xanthopoulou
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  2. Aphrodite Tsaballa
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  9. Athanasios Tsaftaris
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  10. Andreas G. Doulis
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  11. Apostolos Kalivas
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  14. Irini Nianiou-Obeidat
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Correspondence to Irini Nianiou-Obeidat or Panagiotis Madesis.

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Xanthopoulou, A., Tsaballa, A., Ganopoulos, I. et al. Ιntra-species grafting induces epigenetic and metabolic changes accompanied by alterations in fruit size and shape of Cucurbita pepo L.. Plant Growth Regul 87, 93–108 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-018-0456-7

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