Transcriptomics analysis of Psidium cattleyanum Sabine (Myrtaceae) unveil potential genes involved in fruit pigmentation

Abstract

Psidium cattleyanum Sabine is an Atlantic Forest native species that presents some populations with red fruits and others with yellow fruits. This variation in fruit pigmentation in this species is an intriguing character that could be related to species evolution but still needs to be further explored. Our goal was to provide genomic information for these morphotypes to understand the molecular mechanisms of differences in fruit colour in this species. In this study, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis of red and yellow morphotypes of P. cattleyanum, considering two stages of fruit ripening. The transcriptomic analysis performed encompassing leaves, unripe and ripe fruits, in triplicate for each morphotype. The transcriptome consensus from each morphotype showed 301,058 and 298,310 contigs from plants with yellow and red fruits, respectively. The differential expression revealed important genes that were involved in anthocyanins biosynthesis, such as the anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and UDP-glucose:flavonoid-o-glucosyltransferase (UFGT) that were differentially regulated during fruit ripening. This study reveals stimulating data for the understanding of the pathways and mechanisms involved in the maturation and colouring of P. cattleyanum fruits and suggests that the ANS and UFGT genes are key factors involved in the synthase and pigmentation accumulation in red fruits.

Comparative metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses revealed the differential accumulation of secondary metabolites during the ripening process of acerola cherry (Malpighia emarginata) fruit

“…Downstream products of DFR are catalyzed by ANS into various fundamental anthocyanidins 44 . Previous studies revealed that anthocyanidins played an important role in fruit color formation 45 . In acerola, two copies of the ANS gene were upregulated, suggesting their important roles in fruit color changes during the ripening process.…”

Genome-wide identification, expression profile and evolutionary relationships of TPS genes in the neotropical fruit tree species Psidium cattleyanum

“…For expression analysis, we used the published RNA-Seq dataset from leaves for the yellow and red morphotypes of P. cattleyanum 115 . To verify the quality of reads and the presence of Illumina adaptors, we used the FastQC software (http:// www.…”

Genomic Approaches for Improvement of Tropical Fruits: Fruit Quality, Shelf Life and Nutrient Content

“…Candidate genes whose expression correlated with red peel colour were glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase 5 (GPAT5), peamaclein, CTP synthase-like, chloroplastic monodehydroascorbate (MDA), probable 2-oxoglutarate dependent dioxygenase AOP1 (2OG-AOP1), methionine synthase (MS), Secoisolariciresinol dehydrogenase (SDH) and BEL1like homeodomain 1(BLH1) [21]. In Psidium cattleyanum, where red and yellow fruits are common, the peel transcriptome revealed the involvement of anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) and UDP-glucose: flavonoid-o-glucosyl transferase (UFGT) in red peeled fruits [135] (Table 3). Betalain production in dragon fruit contributes to the nutritional and visual appeal of the fruit.…”