Articles
Effects of light on carotenoid biosynthesis and color formation of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) fruit
Article number
1450_25
Pages
191 – 198
Language
English
Abstract
For apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), 
-carotene mainly contributes to the flesh color and fruit nutrition.
In order to explore the effects of light on carotenoid biosynthesis and color formation in apricot fruits, two color-contrasted apricot cultivars ‘Jingluohong’ (yellow-fleshed cultivar) and ‘Zaoyu’ (white-fleshed cultivar) were selected as materials, with three development stages including green fruit with hard kernel (GR), color-turning fruit (CT) and full-ripening fruit (FR). At GR stage, some fruits had been shading with opaque paper bag and removed until one week before full-ripening.
The carotenoids in the apricot flesh under different treatments were analyzed by UHPLC-APCI-MS/MS, and a series of crucial enzyme genes involved in-carotene biosynthesis pathway including genes psy1, lcy-B, lcy-E, nced5, nced1 and ccd4 were detected by using qRT-PCR analysis.
The results showed that, at FR stage, the contents of carotenoid, carotene,-carotene, lycopene and (E/Z)-phytoene in ‘Jingluohong’ flesh decreased significantly after shading.
However, once removed the bag used for shading, the contents of total carotenoids and each carotenoid component increased rapidly, even more higher than that in unshaded fruits.
Correspondingly, the gene expressions of psy1 presented the same variation trend.
In contrast with yellow-fleshed cultivar, the contents of total carotenoids and each carotenoid component especially lycopene content in ‘Zaoyu’ flesh increased significantly after shading, also higher than that in unshaded fruits and bag-removed fruits.
The gene expression levels of nced5, nced1 and ccd4 were significantly higher than those in other treatment fruits.
The expression of lcy-E in unshaded white-flesh cultivar ‘Zaoyu’ was significantly higher than that in other treatments.
These results indicated that light stimulated the carotenoid synthesis by regulating gene expression in yellow-fleshed cultivar, whereas shading treatment could increase the carotenoid accumulation in white-fleshed apricot cultivar.
These findings provided the bases for improvement of fruit color and nutrition by regulating light conditions in apricot.
-carotene mainly contributes to the flesh color and fruit nutrition.In order to explore the effects of light on carotenoid biosynthesis and color formation in apricot fruits, two color-contrasted apricot cultivars ‘Jingluohong’ (yellow-fleshed cultivar) and ‘Zaoyu’ (white-fleshed cultivar) were selected as materials, with three development stages including green fruit with hard kernel (GR), color-turning fruit (CT) and full-ripening fruit (FR). At GR stage, some fruits had been shading with opaque paper bag and removed until one week before full-ripening.
The carotenoids in the apricot flesh under different treatments were analyzed by UHPLC-APCI-MS/MS, and a series of crucial enzyme genes involved in
-carotene biosynthesis pathway including genes psy1, lcy-B, lcy-E, nced5, nced1 and ccd4 were detected by using qRT-PCR analysis.The results showed that, at FR stage, the contents of carotenoid, carotene,
-carotene, lycopene and (E/Z)-phytoene in ‘Jingluohong’ flesh decreased significantly after shading.However, once removed the bag used for shading, the contents of total carotenoids and each carotenoid component increased rapidly, even more higher than that in unshaded fruits.
Correspondingly, the gene expressions of psy1 presented the same variation trend.
In contrast with yellow-fleshed cultivar, the contents of total carotenoids and each carotenoid component especially lycopene content in ‘Zaoyu’ flesh increased significantly after shading, also higher than that in unshaded fruits and bag-removed fruits.
The gene expression levels of nced5, nced1 and ccd4 were significantly higher than those in other treatment fruits.
The expression of lcy-E in unshaded white-flesh cultivar ‘Zaoyu’ was significantly higher than that in other treatments.
These results indicated that light stimulated the carotenoid synthesis by regulating gene expression in yellow-fleshed cultivar, whereas shading treatment could increase the carotenoid accumulation in white-fleshed apricot cultivar.
These findings provided the bases for improvement of fruit color and nutrition by regulating light conditions in apricot.
Publication
Authors
J.H. Zhang, M.L. Zhang, L. Yang, F.C. Jiang, W.J. Yu, J.J. Ling, H.Y. Sun
Keywords
apricot, light, fruit, carotenoid, gene expression
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