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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #358399
Research Project: Genomics and Genetic Improvement of Disease Resistance and Horticultural Characteristics of Watermelon, Broccoli, and Leafy Brassicas

Location: Vegetable Research

Title: Differential gene expression in fruits across the reciprocal grafts and effects of grafting on fruit quality and weight

Author
item LOZANO, MARLENY - West Virginia State University
item DALTON, HUGH - West Virginia State University
item DUTTA, SUDIP - West Virginia State University
item TOMASON, YAN - West Virginia State University
item ORTIZ, CARLOS - West Virginia State University
item NIMMAKAYALA, PADMA - West Virginia State University
item Levi, Amnon

Submitted to: Cucurbitaceae Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/22/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We compared transcriptome generated using RNAseq for fruit tissues collected in scions and ungrafted plants of watermelon and Lagenaria (bottle gourd) to assess the impact of grafting on gene expression in fruits. When watermelon is used as scion (WM/LAG), 57 genes were shown differentially expressed (DEGs), when compared to non-grafted watermelon of which, 11 were upregulated and 46 were downregulated. Four genes were exclusively absent in WM/LAG while they highly expressed in nongrafted watermelon. Upregulated genes were of plant cell wall modification, carbohydrate metabolism, synthesis of volatile compounds, hormone metabolism and stress response. Pectinesterase (Cla004251), 5-dehydro-2-deoxygluconokinase (Cla007008) germacrene D synthase (Cla004416), protein forked1 (Cla021595) and phloem filament protein (Cla001440) were examples for upregulated DEGs. On the other hand, downregulated genes were associated to transport, response to stimulus, transcription factors, signaling and metabolic process including peptide transporter (Cla018169), calcium-dependent lipid binding protein (Cla006159), ethylene responsive transcription factor (Cla014156), elicitor-responsive protein (Cla016038) and biosynthetic arginine decarboxylase (Cla016612). Four hundred and seventy eight genes were significantly differentially expressed in fruits of LAG/WM when compared with nongrafted bottle gourd. Of these genes, 263 were upregulated and 215 were downregulated. Hormone metabolism, transporter activity, response to stimulus and oxidative stress were found among the DEGs. ATP-dependent 6-phosphofructokinase (Lsi07G005330), auxin efflux carrier family protein (Lsi01G016410), ethylene-responsive transcription factor (Lsi06G008160), high-affinity glucose transporter (Lsi09G013320), potassium transporter (Lsi02G015540), calcium-binding EF hand protein (Lsi02G010860) and amine oxidase (Lsi09G013240) were some of the notable DEGs in the fruits of LAG/WM. In this study, we also field evaluated reciprocal grafts to understand the effects of grafting on fruits.