Genome-wide identification of miR156-SPL pathway genes in sweet cherry and its biological function in the pathogenic process of hops stunt viroid

To explore the evolutionary characteristic of miR156-SPL pathway gene family and its biological function in the pathogenic process of hop stunt viroid, the Prunus avium cultivar ‘Tieton’ was used as the material in this study.
Nine pav-miR156 and 21 PavSPL genes were identified from the genome of ‘Tieton’, of which the 11 may be target genes of pav-miR156. Through sequence analysis, phylogenetic analysis and synteny analysis with peach SPL gene family, the members of PavSPL gene family were systematically classified and their functions were predicted.
Sequence analysis showed that all PavSPL members contained two SBP conserved domains, and segmental and tandem duplications existing among PavSPL genes.
During the fruit development of sweet cherry, some PavSPL genes may be involved in the regulation of young fruit development, and some may play a regulatory role in the process of coloring and ripening of sweet cherry fruit.
During the pathogenic process of hop stunt viroid, the expression of miR156 was significantly upregulated, while the expression of four PavSPL genes FUN_001177, FUN_004366, FUN_025638 and FUN_026330 was significantly downregulated, and their expression patterns were negatively correlated with the expression of miR156, suggesting that miR156-SPL pathway may play an important role in the formation of ‘Dapple fruit’ caused by hops stunt viroid infection in sweet cherry.

IX International Cherry Symposium

P. Hong, J.W. Wang, D.Z. Zhu, L.S. Zhang, S. Sun, Q.Z. Liu

Prunus avium, pav-miR156, PavSPL gene family, functional analysis

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1408.18