Cucumber ECERIFERUM1 (CsCER1), which influences the cuticle properties and drought tolerance of cucumber, plays a key role in VLC alkanes biosynthesis

Abstract

Most land plants have a wax layer which covers their aerial parts to protect them from environmental stresses, such as drought, UV radiation, and pathogenic invasion. The wax biosynthesis has been well studied previously in Arabidopsis, but it still remains elusive in cucumber. Here, we isolated a CER1 homolog CsCER1 in cucumber, and we found that the expression of CsCER1 in the cucumber line 3401 which shows waxy fruit phenotype is much higher than that in the cucumber line 3413 which displays glossy fruit phenotype. Spatial and temporal expression analyses revealed that CsCER1 is specifically expressed in the epidermis where waxes are synthesized, and sub-cellular location showed that CsCER1 protein is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. The expression of CsCER1 can be induced by low temperature, drought, salt stress and abscisic acid. In addition, abnormal expressions of CsCER1 in transgenic cucumber plants have dramatic effects on very-long-chain (VLC) alkanes biosynthesis, cuticle permeability, and drought resistance. Our data suggested that CsCER1 plays an important role in VLC alkanes biosynthesis in cucumber.

TaCER1‐1A is involved in cuticular wax alkane biosynthesis in hexaploid wheat and responds to plant abiotic stresses

“…These results are similar to experiments where the Arabidopsis CER1 was overexpressed in the Arabidopsis wild type, also prompting drastic increases in alkanes (Bourdenx et al, 2011). Conversely, a wheat loss-of-function mutant, the nullisomic-tetrasomic substitution line, showed reduced alkane amounts, again similar to the cer1 mutant phenotypes of other species (Aarts et al, 1995;Wang, Zhang, Xu, Ren, et al, 2015).…”

“…These findings parallel previous reports where overexpression of the homologous Arabidopsis CER1 gene resulted in increased relative water content after water deprivation, higher biomass accumulation, and, thus, enhanced drought resistance. Similar effects were also observed for rice and cucumber CER1 homologs (Wang, Zhang, Xu, Ren, et al, ; Zhou et al, ). Overall, our results confirmed that TaCER1‐1A, like CER1s in other species, plays an important role in reducing plant surface permeability and, hence, contributes to drought tolerance.…”

“…More recently, heterologous expression in yeast showed that CER3 and CER1 are the sole enzymes required for alkane formation, that CER1 physically interacts with CER3, and that the redox activity of the CER3/CER1 complex can be enhanced by cytochrome b5 (Bernard et al, ). Homologous CER1 genes have been identified from various plant species such as rice and cucumber (Islam, Du, Ning, Ye, & Xiong, ; Jung et al, ; Wang et al, ; Zhou et al, ).…”

Improving Plant Water Use Efficiency through Molecular Genetics

“…In many cases, overexpression of these TFs negatively affects plant growth and yield [93,97]. Recently, Wang et al [98] isolated a CER1 homolog CsCER1, a gene involved in alkane biosynthesis, in cucumber. They showed that abnormal expression of CsCER1 in transgenic cucumber plants had strong effects on very-long-chain (VLC) alkane biosynthesis, cuticle permeability and drought resistance.…”

A CsTu‐TS1 regulatory module promotes fruit tubercule formation in cucumber

“…Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ; 2n = 2x = 14) is an economically important vegetable crop cultivated around the world (Huang et al ., ; Li et al ., ; Yang et al ., ). The cucumber fruit is a pepo that is covered with tubercules, trichomes and a thick cuticle (Roth, ; Wang et al., ). Usually, the larger trichomes on cucumber fruits are called spines and are composed of a stalk and a base (Chen et al ., ).…”