The dominant white color trait of the melon fruit rind is associated with epicuticular wax accumulation

IF 3.6 3区生物学 Q1 PLANT SCIENCES Planta Pub Date : 2024-09-15 DOI:10.1007/s00425-024-04527-7

Ran Ezer, Ekaterina Manasherova, Amit Gur, Arthur A. Schaffer, Yaakov Tadmor, Hagai Cohen

{"title":"The dominant white color trait of the melon fruit rind is associated with epicuticular wax accumulation","authors":"Ran Ezer, Ekaterina Manasherova, Amit Gur, Arthur A. Schaffer, Yaakov Tadmor, Hagai Cohen","doi":"10.1007/s00425-024-04527-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Main Conclusion</h3><p>Microscopic analyses and chemical profiling demonstrate that the white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with the accumulation of n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Abstract</h3><p>Serving as an indicator of quality, the rind (or external) color of fruit directly affects consumer choice. A fruit’s color is influenced by factors such as the levels of pigments and deposited epicuticular waxes. The latter produces a white-grayish coating often referred to as “wax bloom”. Previous reports have suggested that some melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i> L.) accessions may produce wax blooms, where a dominant white rind color trait was genetically mapped to a major locus on chromosome 7 and suggested to be inherited as a single gene named <i>Wi</i>. We here provide the first direct evidence of the contribution of epicuticular waxes to the dominant white rind trait in melon fruit. Our light and electron microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) comparative analysis of melon accessions with white or green rinds reveals that the rind of melon fruit is rich in epicuticular waxes. These waxes are composed of various biochemical classes, including fatty acids, fatty alcohols, aldehydes, fatty amides, <i>n</i>-alkanes, tocopherols, triterpenoids, and wax esters. We show that the dominant white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with increased accumulation of <i>n</i>-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters, which are linked with the deposition of crystal-like wax platelets on their surfaces. Together, this study broadens the understanding of natural variation in an important quality trait of melon fruit and promotes the future identification of the causative gene for the dominant white rind trait.</p><h3 data-test=\"abstract-sub-heading\">Graphical abstract</h3>\n","PeriodicalId":20177,"journal":{"name":"Planta","volume":"197 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Planta","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-024-04527-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Main Conclusion

Microscopic analyses and chemical profiling demonstrate that the white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with the accumulation of n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters.

Abstract

Serving as an indicator of quality, the rind (or external) color of fruit directly affects consumer choice. A fruit’s color is influenced by factors such as the levels of pigments and deposited epicuticular waxes. The latter produces a white-grayish coating often referred to as “wax bloom”. Previous reports have suggested that some melon (Cucumis melo L.) accessions may produce wax blooms, where a dominant white rind color trait was genetically mapped to a major locus on chromosome 7 and suggested to be inherited as a single gene named Wi. We here provide the first direct evidence of the contribution of epicuticular waxes to the dominant white rind trait in melon fruit. Our light and electron microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) comparative analysis of melon accessions with white or green rinds reveals that the rind of melon fruit is rich in epicuticular waxes. These waxes are composed of various biochemical classes, including fatty acids, fatty alcohols, aldehydes, fatty amides, n-alkanes, tocopherols, triterpenoids, and wax esters. We show that the dominant white rind phenotype in melon fruit is associated with increased accumulation of n-alkanes, fatty alcohols, aldehydes and wax esters, which are linked with the deposition of crystal-like wax platelets on their surfaces. Together, this study broadens the understanding of natural variation in an important quality trait of melon fruit and promotes the future identification of the causative gene for the dominant white rind trait.

Graphical abstract

Abstract Image

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

甜瓜果皮的主要白色特征与表皮蜡的积累有关

主要结论显微分析和化学分析表明，甜瓜果实的白色果皮表型与正构烷烃、脂肪醇、醛类和蜡酯的积累有关。摘要水果的果皮（或外部）颜色作为质量指标，直接影响消费者的选择。水果的颜色受各种因素的影响，如色素和沉积的表皮蜡的含量。后者产生的白灰色涂层通常被称为 "蜡斑"。之前的报道表明，一些甜瓜（Cucumis melo L.）品种可能会产生 "蜡花"。在这些品种中，白色果皮的显性性状被基因定位到 7 号染色体上的一个主要位点，并被认为是由名为 Wi 的单基因遗传的。我们在此首次提供了表皮蜡质对甜瓜果实白色果皮显性性状的贡献的直接证据。我们通过光镜、电子显微镜和气相色谱-质谱（GC-MS）对白皮或绿皮甜瓜品种进行的比较分析表明，甜瓜果皮富含表皮蜡。这些蜡由各种生化类别组成，包括脂肪酸、脂肪醇、醛、脂肪酰胺、正烷烃、生育酚、三萜类和蜡酯。我们的研究表明，甜瓜果实的显性白皮表型与正构烷烃、脂肪醇、醛类和蜡酯的积累增加有关，而这些物质又与果实表面晶体状蜡质小板的沉积有关。这项研究拓宽了人们对甜瓜果实重要品质性状自然变异的认识，并促进了未来白皮显性性状致病基因的鉴定。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

Planta 生物-植物科学

CiteScore

7.20

自引率

2.30%

发文量

217

审稿时长

2.3 months

期刊介绍： Planta publishes timely and substantial articles on all aspects of plant biology. We welcome original research papers on any plant species. Areas of interest include biochemistry, bioenergy, biotechnology, cell biology, development, ecological and environmental physiology, growth, metabolism, morphogenesis, molecular biology, new methods, physiology, plant-microbe interactions, structural biology, and systems biology.