title: Transcriptional regulation of lycopene metabolism mediated by rootstock during the ripening of grafted watermelons.
abstract: Rootstocks have comprehensive effects on lycopene accumulation in grafted watermelon fruits. However, little is known about lycopene metabolic regulation in grafted watermelon. To address this problem, parallel changes in lycopene contents and the expression of its metabolic genes were analyzed during the fruit ripening of nongrafted watermelon and watermelon grafted onto bottle gourd, pumpkin, and wild watermelon. Results showed that rootstocks mediated the transcriptional regulations of lycopene accumulation in different ways. Bottle gourd and wild watermelon promoted lycopene accumulation in grafted watermelon fruits by upregulating the biosynthetic genes phytoene synthase (PSY) and ζ-carotene desaturase (ZDS), and downregulating the catabolic genes β-carotene hydroxylase (CHYB), zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP), 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED), and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase (CCD). However, pumpkin did not affect lycopene accumulation by upregulating both biosynthetic and catabolic genes. The rootstock-dependent characteristic of lycopene accumulation in grafted watermelon fruits provided an alternative model for investigating lycopene metabolic regulation.
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: qskong@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors: Qiusheng
authors: Q
authors: Kong
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 865312601@qq.com.
authors: Jingxian
authors: J
authors: Yuan
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 799134262@qq.com.
authors: Lingyun
authors: L
authors: Gao
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 751733716@qq.com.
authors: Peng
authors: P
authors: Liu
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 137583993@qq.com.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Cao
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: huangyuan@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Huang
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 812718136@qq.com.
authors: Liqiang
authors: L
authors: Zhao
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: 545884406@qq.com.
authors: Huifang
authors: H
authors: Lv
authors: Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Electronic address: biezhilong@hotmail.com.
authors: Zhilong
authors: Z
authors: Bie
mesh_terms: D002338:Carotenoids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029773:Citrullus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D000077276:Lycopene; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids; D000077276:Lycopene
keywords: Fruit ripening; Grafting; Lycopene; Metabolic regulation; Rootstock; Watermelon