As one of the significant ornamental characteristics of tree peony, floral fragrance has garnered considerable attention. In this study, 65 cultivars of tree peony were classified into three groups based on their sensory evaluation scores: strong fragrance, medium fragrance, and no/light fragrance and 9 strong fragrance cultivars, 6 medium fragrance cultivars, and 2 light/no fragrance cultivars were selected for substance analysis. Using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), 77 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified and classified from 17 tree peony cultivars, they were terpenoids, benzenoids/phenylpropanoids, and fatty acid derivatives. Monoterpenoids were the main volatile compounds in the cultivars ‘Souvenir de Maxime Cornu’, ‘Okan’, ‘Chromatella’, ‘Yapianzi’, and ‘Liuli Guanzhu’, while benzenoids/phenylpropanoids were the main volatile compounds in ‘Shaonvqun’ and ‘Binglingzi’. Through the calculation of odor activity value (OAV), 17 cultivars were categorized into four distinct groups: flower-sweet scent, flower-rose scent, herb scent and mixed scent. This investigation presented the composition and classification of fragrant compounds of 17 tree peony cultivars and classified the odor profiles based on the contribution of flower volatiles to the overall olfactory experience, offering valuable materials for genetic enhancement of tree peony floral fragrance.
Agrobacterium-mediated transient gene expression is a powerful tool for characterizing gene function in plants, particularly in fruit trees with long juvenile periods. However, few studies have systematically explored transient expression in nut trees, such as T. grandis. In this study, we developed a rapid and easily manipulated transient transformation system using Agrobacterium-mediated injection infiltration in T. grandis cones. Cones at the enlargement stage (30 days after aril protrusion) were used, and the bacterial solution was gently injected into the kernel at a depth of 1 cm, filling nearly the entire cone, as indicated by a red dye. Using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as a reporter for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, we confirmed GFP expression in T. grandis cone successfully through confocal microscopy, western blot, and PCR. Transformation conditions, including bacterial density and days after agroinfiltration, were optimized for higher transformation efficiency, with the optimal conditions being an OD600 of 0.6 and an agroinfiltration period of 6 - 9 days. Transient overexpression of TgWRKY47, a cell size regulator, altered cell size in T. grandis cones, indicating that this Agrobacterium infiltration method can be used for gene functional analysis. Furthermore, confocal microscopy revealed that TgWRKY47-GFP was localized in the nucleus along with a nuclear marker, demonstrating its applicability for protein subcellular localization. In summary, this method presents a versatile tool for efficient and targeted transient gene functional analysis and subcellular localization in T. grandis cones, offering new insights into nut tree biology research.