A comparison of the ultrastructure and composition of fruits' cuticular wax from the wild-type 'Newhall' navel orange (Citrus sinensis [L.] Osbeck cv. Newhall) and its glossy mutant.
The altered ultrastructure and composition of cuticular wax from 'glossy Newhall' (MT) fruits lead to its glossy phenotype. A novel mutant derived from the wild-type (WT) 'Newhall' navel orange (Citrus sinensis [L.] Osbeck cv. Newhall), named 'glossy Newhall' (MT), which produced much more glossy fruits that were easily distinguishable from the WT fruits was characterized in this report. The total wax loads of both WT and MT fruits varied considerably during the fruit development. The most abundant wax fraction of WT mature fruits was triterpenoids, followed by aldehydes, alkanes, fatty acids, primary alcohol and cholesterol. The total wax load in MT mature fruits was reduced by 44.2 % compared with WT. Except for the minor wax components of primary alcohol and cholesterol, the amounts of all major wax fractions in MT mature fruits were decreased in varying degrees. The major reduction occurred in aldehydes that decreased 96.4 % and alkanes that decreased 81.9 %, which was consistent with scanning electron micrographs of MT mature fruit surfaces that showed a severe loss of wax crystals. Hence, aldehydes and alkanes were suggested to be required for wax crystal formation in 'Newhall' navel orange fruits.
College of Agronomy, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, People's Republic of China.
De-Chun
DC
Liu
Qiong
Q
Zeng
Qing-Xun
QX
Ji
Chuan-Fu
CF
Liu
Shan-Bei
SB
Liu
Yong
Y
Liu
D000447:Aldehydes / Q000737:chemistry; D000473:Alkanes / Q000737:chemistry; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000737:chemistry; D032084:Citrus sinensis / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010641:Phenotype; D013045:Species Specificity; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000737:chemistry; D014885:Waxes / Q000737:chemistry*
D000447:Aldehydes; D000473:Alkanes; D005227:Fatty Acids; D014315:Triterpenes; D014885:Waxes; D002784:Cholesterol