title: The peach HECATE3-like gene FLESHY plays a double role during fruit development.
abstract: Tight control of cell/tissue identity is essential for a correct and functional organ patterning, an important component of overall fruit development and eventual maturation and ripening. Despite many investigations regarding the molecular determinants of cell identity in fruits of different species, a useful model able to depict the regulatory networks governing this relevant part of fruit development is still missing. Here we described the peach fruit as a system to link the phenotype of a slow ripening (SR) selection to an altered transcriptional regulation of genes involved in determination of mesocarp cell identity providing insight toward molecular regulation of fruit tissue formation. Morpho-anatomical observations and metabolomics analyses performed during fruit development on the reference cultivar Fantasia, compared to SR, revealed that the mesocarp of SR maintained typical immaturity traits (e.g. small cell size, high amino acid contents and reduced sucrose) throughout development, along with a strong alteration of phenylpropanoid contents, resulting in accumulation of phenylalanine and lignin. These findings suggest that the SR mesocarp is phenotypically similar to a lignifying endocarp. To test this hypothesis, the expression of genes putatively involved in determination of drupe tissues identity was assessed. Among these, the peach HEC3-like gene FLESHY showed a strongly altered expression profile consistent with pit hardening and fruit ripening, generated at a post-transcriptional level. A double function for FLESHY in channelling the phenylpropanoid pathway to either lignin or flavour/aroma is suggested, along with its possible role in triggering auxin-ethylene cross talk at the start of ripening.
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Botton
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
authors: Angela
authors: A
authors: Rasori
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
authors: Fiorenza
authors: F
authors: Ziliotto
authors: UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: Annick
authors: A
authors: Moing
authors: Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, University of Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: Mickaël
authors: M
authors: Maucourt
authors: UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Bernillon
authors: UMR1332 Biologie du Fruit et Pathologie, INRA, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.|Plateforme Métabolome du Centre de Génomique Fonctionnelle Bordeaux, MetaboHUB, IBVM, Centre INRA Bordeaux, 71 av Edouard Bourlaux, 33140, Villenave d'Ornon, France.
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Deborde
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Petterle
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy.
authors: Serena
authors: S
authors: Varotto
authors: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padova, viale dell'Università, 16, Agripolis, 35020, Legnaro, Italy. claudio.bonghi@unipd.it.
authors: Claudio
authors: C
authors: Bonghi
mesh_terms: D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D023281:Genomics; D005838:Genotype; D008031:Lignin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D000068239:Prunus persica / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D008031:Lignin
keywords: Fruit patterning; Mesocarp identity; Metabolomics; MicroRNA; Phenylpropanoid pathway; Post-transcriptional regulation