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Expression of a putative dioxygenase gene adjacent to an insertion mutation is involved in the short internodes of columnar apples (Malus × domestica)

Journal of Plant Research volume 129, pages 1109–1126 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Determining the molecular mechanism of fruit tree architecture is important for tree management and fruit production. An apple mutant ‘McIntosh Wijcik’, which was discovered as a bud mutation from ‘McIntosh’, exhibits a columnar growth phenotype that is controlled by a single dominant gene, Co. In this study, the mutation and the Co gene were analyzed. Fine mapping narrowed the Co region to a 101 kb region. Sequence analysis of the Co region and the original wild-type co region identified an insertion mutation of an 8202 bp long terminal repeat (LTR) retroposon in the Co region. Segregation analysis using a DNA marker based on the insertion polymorphism showed that the LTR retroposon was closely associated with the columnar growth phenotype. RNA-seq and RT-PCR analysis identified a promising Co candidate gene (91071-gene) within the Co region that is specifically expressed in ‘McIntosh Wijcik’ but not in ‘McIntosh’. The 91071-gene was located approximately 16 kb downstream of the insertion mutation and is predicted to encode a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase involved in an unknown reaction. Overexpression of the 91071-gene in transgenic tobaccos and apples resulted in phenotypes with short internodes, like columnar apples. These data suggested that the 8202 bp retroposon insertion in ‘McIntosh Wijcik’ is associated with the short internodes of the columnar growth phenotype via upregulated expression of the adjacent 91071-gene. Furthermore, the DNA marker based on the insertion polymorphism could be useful for the marker-assisted selection of columnar apples.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Kenji Nashima for helpful discussions on the RNA-seq analysis, and Dr. Masaharu Mizutani for helpful comments on the 2OGDs. This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI (Grant Number 24780033) and a Grant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan [Genomics-based Technology for Agricultural Improvement (Grant Number HOR-2002)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Apple Research Station, NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Morioka, Iwate, 020-0123, Japan

    Kazuma Okada, Masato Wada, Shigeki Moriya, Hiroshi Iwanami & Kazuyuki Abe

  2. Agrogenomics Research Center, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan

    Yuichi Katayose, Hiroko Fujisawa, Jianzhong Wu, Hiroyuki Kanamori, Kanako Kurita & Harumi Sasaki

  3. Okitsu Citrus Research Station, NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Shimizu, Shizuoka, 424-0292, Japan

    Hiroshi Fujii

  4. NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8605, Japan

    Shingo Terakami & Toshiya Yamamoto

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  1. Kazuma Okada
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  2. Masato Wada
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  3. Shigeki Moriya
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  14. Kazuyuki Abe
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Correspondence to Kazuma Okada.

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Okada, K., Wada, M., Moriya, S. et al. Expression of a putative dioxygenase gene adjacent to an insertion mutation is involved in the short internodes of columnar apples (Malus × domestica). J Plant Res 129, 1109–1126 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0863-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-016-0863-7

Keywords

  • DNA marker
  • Mutant
  • Retroposon
  • RNA-seq
  • Tree architecture
  • 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase