title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vegetable Science, College of Agronomy and Bio-technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wenjiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kezia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Xinshuang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gai
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Huazhong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D000473:Alkanes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D055864:Droughts; D015870:Gene Expression; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010539:Permeability; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D034622:RNA Interference; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014885:Waxes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C101547:CER protein, Arabidopsis; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014885:Waxes