title: The PH gene determines fruit acidity and contributes to the evolution of sweet melons.
abstract: Taste has been the subject of human selection in the evolution of agricultural crops, and acidity is one of the three major components of fleshy fruit taste, together with sugars and volatile flavour compounds. We identify a family of plant-specific genes with a major effect on fruit acidity by map-based cloning of C. melo PH gene (CmPH) from melon, Cucumis melo taking advantage of the novel natural genetic variation for both high and low fruit acidity in this species. Functional silencing of orthologous PH genes in two distantly related plant families, cucumber and tomato, produced low-acid, bland tasting fruit, showing that PH genes control fruit acidity across plant families. A four amino-acid duplication in CmPH distinguishes between primitive acidic varieties and modern dessert melons. This fortuitous mutation served as a preadaptive antecedent to the development of sweet melon cultigens in Central Asia over 1,000 years ago.
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel [2].
authors.forename: Shahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel [2].
authors.forename: Maxim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itkin
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Yelena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yeselson
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Galil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tzuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Vitaly
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Portnoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Rotem
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harel-Baja
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Shery
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lev
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Uzi
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sa'ar
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davidovitz-Rikanati
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baranes
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Einat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bar
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petreikov
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Shmuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Services, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Shifra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ben-Dor
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rogachev
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Asaph
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aharoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Tslil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ast
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Weizmann Institute, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schuldiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Fruit Tree Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Eduard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Belausov
authors.affiliation: Department of Fruit Tree Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Ravit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eshed
authors.affiliation: Department of Fruit Tree Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ophir
authors.affiliation: Department of Fruit Tree Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pflanzenphysiologie, Technische Universitat Kaiserlautern, D-67663 Kaiserlautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Frei
authors.affiliation: Department of Pflanzenphysiologie, Technische Universitat Kaiserlautern, D-67663 Kaiserlautern, Germany.
authors.forename: H Ekkehard
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Neuhaus
authors.affiliation: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Yimin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Zhangjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.affiliation: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Giovannoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Efraim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lewinsohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Yaakov
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tadmor
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Harry S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Katzir
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Newe Ya'ar Center, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel.
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Research, ARO-Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
authors.forename: Arthur A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Schaffer
mesh_terms: D019343:Citric Acid / Q000032:analysis; D028463:Cucumis melo / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008293:Malates / Q000032:analysis; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008293:Malates; D010940:Plant Proteins; D019343:Citric Acid; C030298:malic acid