Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a native plant from Southeast Asia that was domesticated more than 4,000 years ago (Das et al., 2011).The world production of eggplant in 2019 was approximately 55.2 million tons, with China being the main producer (http://www.fao. org/). Eggplant fruit is rich in vitamins, dietary fiber, and phytonutrients, especially phenolic compounds, such as caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid, and flavonoids. Eggplant has highly beneficial effects on human health due to its high content of phenolic acids (Salerno et al., 2014;Toppino et al., 2016). These phenolic acids are important due to their various health-promoting effects (Kaushik et al., 2015).Fresh eggplant fruits deteriorate rapidly after harvesting and have a very limited shelf life at ambient temperature. In addition, postharvest problems include softening, browning, flavor loss, and disease infections that negatively affect the quality of eggplant fruits during storage or transportation. Many reports have demonstrated that elevated phenolic acid levels in fruit flesh increase the risk of eggplant browning (Taranto et al., 2017). Depending on the mechanism, browning reactions in food products are generally
Background In angiosperms, phenotypic variation of floral organs is often considered as the traditional basis for the evolutionary relationship of different taxonomic groups above the species level. However, little is known about that at or below the species level. Here, we experimentally tested the phenotypic variation of Malus floral organs using combined methods of intraspecific uniformity test, interspecific distinctness analysis, principal component analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and Q-type cluster analysis. The ancestor-inclined distribution characteristic analysis of Malus species and cultivars floral attributes was also carried out, so as to explore its taxonomic significance. Results 15/44 phenotypic traits (e.g., flower shape, flower type, flower diameter, ...) were highly consistent, distinguishable, and independent and could be used as the basis for Malus germplasm taxonomy. The studied 142 taxa were divided into two groups (A, B) and five sub-groups (A1, A2, B1, B2, B3), with significantly variable floral phenotypic attributes between groups and within sub-groups. Malus natural species were relatively clustered in the same section (series) while homologous cultivars showed evidence of ancestor-inclined distribution characteristics. However, no significant correlation between the evolutionary order of sections (Sect. Docyniopsis → Sect. Chloromeles → Sect. Sorbomalus → Sect. Eumalus) and group/sub-groups (B3 → B2 → B1 → A). Conclusions Phenotypic variation of floral organs could better explore the genetic relationship between Malus taxa. The findings improved our cognition of floral phenotypic variation taxonomic significance under the species level.
Ilex dabieshanensis K. Yao & M. B. Deng is not only a highly valued tree species for landscaping, it is also a good material for making kuding tea due to its anti-inflammatory and lipid-lowering medicinal properties. Utilizing next-generation and long-read sequencing technologies, we assembled the whole chloroplast genome of I. dabieshanensis. The genome was 157,218 bp in length, exhibiting a typical quadripartite structure with a large single copy (LSC: 86,607 bp), a small single copy (SSC: 18,427 bp) and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRA and IRB: each of 26,092 bp). A total of 121 predicted genes were encoded, including 113 distinctive (79 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNAs, and 4 rRNAs) and 8 duplicated (8 protein-coding genes) located in the IR regions. Overall, 132 SSRs and 43 long repeats were detected and could be used as potential molecular markers. Comparative analyses of four traditional Ilex tea species (I. dabieshanensis, I. paraguariensis, I. latifolia and I. cornuta) revealed seven divergent regions: matK-rps16, trnS-psbZ, trnT-trnL, atpB-rbcL, petB-petD, rpl14-rpl16, and rpl32-trnL. These variations might be applicable for distinguishing different species within the genus Ilex. Phylogenetic reconstruction strongly suggested that I. dabieshanensis formed a sister clade to I. cornuta and also showed a close relationship to I. latifolia. The generated chloroplast genome information in our study is significant for Ilex tea germplasm identification, phylogeny and genetic improvement.
MIKCC-type MADS-box genes are involved in floral organ identity determination but remain less studied in the Malus lineage. Based on the conserved domains of this gene family, we identified 341 genes among 13 species. Classification results showed that the MIKCC-type were generated later than the M-type, after the formation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. By phylogenetic analysis, three different groups were divided among 12 plant species, and one group was an ancestral MIKCC-type MADS-box homologous gene cluster from lower moss to higher flowering plants. Comparative analysis of these genes in A. thaliana and Malus lineages revealed a similar pattern evolutionary relationship with the phylogenetic analysis. Three classes of genes of the ABC model in A. thaliana had orthologous genes in the Malus species, but they experienced different evolutionary events. Only a whole-genome duplication (WGD) event was considered to act on the expansion of ABC-model-related genes in the Malus lineage. Additionally, the expression pattern of genes showed to be involved in flowering development stages and anther development processes among different M. domestica cultivars. This study systematically traced the evolutionary history and expansion mechanism of the MIKCC-type MADS-box gene family in plants. The results also provided novel insights for ABC model research of flower development in the Malus lineage.
Euonymus alatus , Celastraceae, is a deciduous tree species valued for its ornamental and medicinal properties. Here, the species’ whole chloroplast genome sequence was generated by assembling the Illumina paired-end sequencing reads. The circular genome was 157,611 bp in length, exhibiting a typical quadripartite structure with a large single-copy (LSC: 85,892 bp), a small single-copy (SSC: 18,419 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRA and IRB: each of 26,650 bp). The chloroplast genome encoded 131 genes, including 87 protein-coding (78 protein-coding gene species), 36 transfer RNA (29 tRNA species), and 8 ribosomal RNA genes (4 rRNA species). The overall GC content was 37.3%, while the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC and IR regions were 35.1, 31.7 and 42.7%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of 12 species complete chloroplast genomes suggested that E. alatus was relatively close to E. japonicus . This complete chloroplast genome is expected to provide valuable insight into further phylogenetic reconstruction of the Celastraceae species.
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